yeah,

I say

I grew up

a different way

in a place

right like that

sounds like my mouth’s

swollen fat

where we talk

with a drawl

that’d make most

jaws just fall

and wonder,

you may,

What did that girl

just say?

 

n’bout the sound

that you hear

you think you’re better?

you speak out of fear

just because

this sound

isn’t typically

found

so much talent

inside

social judge

go and hide

 

’cause everyone else

doesn’t talk like this

the things I speak,

sound so amiss

your words spew out

against my slang

yet, I rebound,

like a boomerang

 

you uneducated one?

you haven’t travelled?

you haven’t lived?

you haven’t saddled?

a car

a horse

a plane

of course!

everyone must fit

in your tiny mold

everyone must be

only what you can behold

in order to be

of any worth

in your bubble

yet, planet earth

is massive

it’s huge

it’s full of diverse

and everyone talks

in spite of your curse

you cast out in anguish

the pain you reveal

when you lift up your foot

and swallow your heel

 

Your ears deceive you

Simply because

I do not speak

like everyone does

that I am not worthy

of so much more

I cannot wait to settle

this score

 

Cause the stuff I’m made of

is worthy, my friend,

I didn’t put on,

I didn’t pretend

to be so much better

when I was a kid

I was taught with hard work

can win any bid

I’ll prove you with actions

I show you my power

and all of your words

will surround you and shower

 

you with the guilt

of the things that you said

and all of the foolish

that goes on in your head

’cause you think-what you see

or the things that you hear

are worth so much more

than my strong hands steer

I’m onward I’m upward

I learn every way

I teach myself more

than your words can say

 

My unabashed power

of hard work instilled

a confidence mighty

that no one can kill

I conquer, I accomplish

I pass every test

onward I’m pushing

leaving dust for the rest

N’ all those who scoffed me

Speak now in such awe

as I sit in a board room

filled with men, la-te-da

 

I am the only girl

in this room full of men

Fully groomed, shoulders back

and now I begin

I lead and I teach

’cause they only wish

that they had the talent

that my pinky can dish

I’ve shattered the records

and graciously see

what was that? a ceiling

you built there for me?

the glass is now shattered

scattered down at my feet

falling like snow

drifting down around me

I glow in the splendor

of all I can be

the professional life

that I quantum-jump leaped

proves to any and all

that winners don’t keep

obstacles lingering

we push them all down

I mastered my life

I earned success’ crown

 

Here the story doesn’t end

sadly, it keeps on going

ever scathing

ever growing

as I kept getting better

the comments didn’t stop

in fact, ever sadly,

the worse that they got

especially as a woman

surrounded by men

they all felt they mattered

so much more in their den

the wolf-like disgust

of what they would say

when the doors were all closed

they surrounded their prey

yet, I know one day

Holy vengeance repays

the hideous taunt

of all their gross minds

and they are all punished

for discussing my behind

grrrr.

 

so all you out there

that keep hearing, “you can’t!”

“you don’t deserve greatness!”

Here I am, and I grant

You all the power

You own a great force

You own all the tools

To pave your own course

Not one of them ruin

That others assume

Make your path great

Your life is your tune

Tap in to your song

The one in your head

That fills you with power

And all that’s been said

Will be eaten up slowly

A sweet humble pie

cause we are so capable

As long as we try.

 

And it’s so much greater

To win your own way

In spite of the hatred

That is hurtled your way!

Onward and upward

Confidence refraction

We conquer, we rule!

Our result – Positaction!

---

 

I grew up in a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada.  I spoke like all the other people in my tiny, beautiful and underpopulated town.  We have our own special way of talking with such a cool accent not many could match.  I love hearing it when I talk to my family on the phone.

Let me tell you more about me.

I had drive and work ethic even as a young child.  I craved success.  I convinced my parents at the age of 12 that it would be a great idea for me to work at the local fish plant and cut herring roe so I could make my own money to buy school clothes. That was my first job.  I’d stand in a row of women – all speaking Fringlish – for 8-10 hours a day and stare at fish flying by on a conveyer belt.  I’d leave covered in sticky fish scales.  When I’d close my eyes at night all I could see were the fish flying past me.  My back killed, my feet throbbed my hands smelled of fish no matter how hard I scrubbed.  I was 12.

We grew up very, very poor.  My bedroom consisted of 3 framed in walls with no insulation and an orange tarp for a door.  Living in those conditions made me tough.  In winter the temperatures would drop down to below freezing.  When I would wake up in the morning I would run to the insulated part of our house to warm up.  I learned to adapt to my surroundings.  I am strong.

My mom was born and raised in Connecticut.  I was blessed to have had the opportunity to travel there and live with my Aunt for many summers.  She was my inspiration for success.  She smashed every glass ceiling she saw.  Awestruck, I watched her successfully hurtle the corporate ladder in telecommunications through the 80s and 90s, bridging gaps in a culture that had no respect for women in her position at all.  I wanted to be like her.  I am inspired.

My mom became extremely successful as well.  She sold jewelry and skin care in home parties and climbed up the triangulated ladder very quickly.  She would take me to provincial conferences where I sat and watched her time and time again get called to the stage to receive award after award.  That was my mom.  I am an achiever.

When I would travel and exist outside of my small town I became the punching bag for anyone that heard me talk.  My accent disgusted them.  “You sound so funny!  The way you talk makes you sound so stupid. What did you just say? I don’t even know how you can talk like that?  Where are you from?”  All statements were announced with utter disgust.  Kids are mean.  I am resilient.

Yet, even in my adult years, when I moved to Halifax, the women I worked with would hatefully tell me that my accent made me sound uneducated.  I needed to change if I wanted to achieve my goals.  I became more.

I couldn’t hear them.  I was too busy being great.  I sold more than any of the insecure women I worked with every-single-day.  Every. Single. Day.  I won every single contest or trip – for example, 10 days in New York City at the Sofitel Hotel.  I was hired as a model for international conferences displaying the merchandise for work.  I was successful at every-single-thing I did.  In spite of the insults and reprimands of my colleagues.  I was always stronger, I was always better.

I learned and adapted because of my life experiences.  I honed in on the skills and the attributes of a well-travelled and well-educated adult.  I could change my accent at will, adapting and controlling any situation I was in.  Speaking a certain way doesn’t make one uneducated, it expresses diversity of the world and the beautiful cultures we all represent.

I went on to achieve a 6 figure salary in a corporate culture full of men.  Gathered in massive conference-table meetings, I was surrounded by disgusting pig-like creatures.  I held my own and smashed every single record that place had ever seen.  I am successful.  It’s how I was made.  My DNA code reads success, achievement, no limits and an I’ll-prove-you-wrong kind of attitude.  That is who I am.

Now as a wife and a mom, I want my family to be that as well.  It’s an attitude I want my champions to adopt as well.  Yet, they can only be that if they see that.  SO I live that.  Positaction.

I had a teaching moment with my champs about catching a ball.  I told them that the only reason they couldn’t catch was because they didn’t believe they could first.  They were scared of the ball, closing their eyes and flailing their little hands.  Confidence was lacking.  The ball won’t hurt you, you need to command the situation.  Look at the ball and tell yourself, “I will catch the ball when it is thrown.  I know how to catch.  The ball will land in my hand.”  If you say that, and you truly believe it, you will find it very difficult to miss a toss.  It worked.  Their smiles of success were so rewarding!

That goes with everything in life.  If you set out to do anything and you do it without doubt, without fear, focused only on the outcome – and you make that outcome great – you have no option but to succeed.  On your way, you may drop the ball here and there, but you stay focused on the outcome, you will achieve the outcome you desire.  You will realize your goal, and live where the ball doesn’t get dropped.  You will get what you deserve.  Achievement is yours.

Every action has an equal and opposite ReAction.  Let’s think about that more.  Just like any scientific reaction – we all need to think about what we want.  Repeat it to yourself and tie yourself to it.  I’ll call it my po-si-tac-tion = positive reaction.  Positaction.

Here is my positaction – “My name is Katie Swank and I work out everyday.”

What is your Positaction? Over and over, repeat that to yourself.  Every morning when you brush your teeth, say that to you.  Do it at least 10 times.  You fill find that you can’t argue with you.  The key to success is identifying with your goal.  Attach your name to the thing you want to achieve.  That becomes you.  You cannot separate yourself from it.  It is just you.  So, Simply, it’s impossible for it not to happen.  You are now your positaction.

Life is great, and we can make it even greater when we focus on what we need out of life and achieve it.  God is so good.  He created us all different and beautiful in our own way. The things you are created to do are there for the taking.  Remember, God commands us in the Bible to ACT.  To Achieve.  To do good in this world and to inspire others because we are different.  TO make people wonder – what do they have that I don’t?  Where does her sparkle come from?  Where is his power found?  Our answer is Faith in God, our Savior – Forever! Amen?!

The response to the questions you have is always God.  Why? God.  How? God.  When? God.  Where? God.  What? God.  He holds the future.

Beat the lies in your mind to a pulp.  Command the power of the Holy Spirit to come in and remove the sin from your mind and focus on positive thoughts and powerful energy.  Your POSITACTION! Make today all about your goals, your healthy mind, and your connected spirit with God. When you do that, I promise you, nothing can stand in your way.  Be thankful in all things, giving thanks to the Lord for all you have, staying humble in each situation because strength and power come from every moment you are given.  Amen!  We are so blessed!

Please leave a comment and share what your positaction is.  Repeat it over and over every day and then let me know what your result is.