When a caterpillar goes into its chrysalis, it doesn’t just sprout wings and call it a day. It actually liquifies itself like, turns into a full-on gooey protein smoothie inside that tiny cocoon. Scientists call it complete metamorphosis, and it’s one of the most dramatic transformations in nature. Inside the chrysalis: The caterpillar’s old body breaks down into a nutrient-rich goo Special cells (called imaginal discs) survive the meltdown Those cells use the goo to build an entirely new body: wings, eyes, legs, antennae, the whole thing It’s basically nature’s version of: “Let me destroy everything I used to be so I can become something brand new.” 🦋 Now I am not saying we need to destroy ourselves completely in order to become someone new. But we do have to do that to our mindset and identity beliefs for it to actually happen. Opinions?

So this essay/post is being written to introduce myself and in response to a request by @Rasheed Hooda, who asked that we share about living life on our own terms and about what our inner weirdo is. So first, for those of you who don’t know me, let me introduce myself. My name is George Benson. I am the youngest of nine kids, and I have been married to my wife, Jodell, since 1994. Together, we have been blessed to raise our two daughters, Antonia, who is a ministry intern, and Julia, who is a firefighter/paramedic. EMBRACING MY INNER WEIRDO Recently, after reading various posts by @Rasheed Hooda and @Matt Landry, I was struck by something Matt said that I had never heard someone say before. He said he was an empath. A word I have lived since I was six, and a word I had never heard another human use to describe themselves in over 50 years, except in books that I have read from authors writing about that specific topic. So what is an empath? An empath is someone who not only notices the emotions of others, but can often feel them deeply, as if they are their own. In fact, many empaths struggle with learning to distinguish what they are feeling and where it is coming from. For some empaths, they are very intuitive and are often very good at reading other people’s emotions and the micro-expressions that are presented by others through various physical characteristics, movements, or other body language. For other empaths, they pick up on the tone of a person’s voice, the specific words they use or don’t use, and the aura, sensations, or energy that is emanating from a person’s body. For some of you, you might not have heard of the word empath, but you might know people who you think are overly sensitive. In clinical terms, psychologists, counselors, or clinicians might refer to them as being an HSP, or a Highly Sensitive Person. For me, although we did not have the words to describe it at the time, I was raised to embrace being an empath, and I grew to develop a strong intuition and at times to experience things that, to this day, I have no words to explain. For those who are interested, I have written a book that I give away for free called Dancing Through the Storms of Life. In that book, I write in the third person about my life and the events that have shaped who I am today. So if you’re interested in learning more about my inner weirdo, feel free to click the link.

Recently @Rasheed Hooda shared a challenge for members to "Get Premium level for life by being an active member" (CLICK HERE To see the article). First off I want to say congratulations @Shawn Ziem, @Stefan Bösebeck, @Rena Nicole, @Lisa Black, @Christina Brady, @Katinka van Kan, @Guy Bandy, @Abe Bray, @Rebecca Bautista, @Tarek Badr, @Krista Melanson, @Caroline Fransz, @Krista Brea, @James McDonald, @James Bansbach, @Harold Faulkner, @Georgiana D, @Val Vosburg, @Angel Conway, @Joshua Tennefrancia, @Mitchell Allen, @Mark Lawrence - Your all doing great! I wonder what each of you have that you could share with the community? An insight? An idea? Or maybe just a kind word to encourage others in the community? You might be surprised how sharing from your heart comes back to benefit you in the long run!

Please help me welcome the two new members that joined our community today. @Tom Peracchio and @Jill Hart Please take a moment to introduce yourself to the community. Who you are? What you do and why you decided to join the community.

My troubles began when I jumped from a helicopter to requalify my airborne status. After landing badly, I had damaged both my legs and had to spend years repairing the damage somewhat. Later because of my leg weakness, I injured myself during martial arts training. This additional leg damage resulted in surgery where I lost 30% of the meniscus in my right knee and woke up from the surgery with severe widespread and chronic pain. This was the beginning of more than 15 years of darkness. Because the pain was so intense I sought ways to medicate the pain away first it was opiate pain pills and sleeping pills then it was off label use of psychotropic medications, all in an effort to achieve a no pain state. In 2024 I quit it all. No pain pills, no psych meds, no sedentary sorry for myself BS I've spent 2 years reawakening to being myself again and 2 things stand out in stark relief to me so I'm sharing them here 1. There is no such thing as a zero pain solution. If you are alive, you will feel pain. Only in a state of being dead will there be zero pain. 2. When you numb out the hurt, you numb out the joy there is not one without the other 3. Move. Move your body and your mind. 4. Make it about something bigger than yourself You see, 2024 was my 30th wedding anniversary. My wife had always expressed a desire to go to Italy however we never had the money or, once we did, I was physically incapable. That was my initial why. Why was I going to deprive my beloved because I was unwilling to do the work and feel the pain to make it happen. Over the course of the first nine months I moved from the couch to walking 3 miles a day and made Italy happen, but it also lit in me the fire to want to live again. Now two years on from my beginning I've lost 120 pounds from 285. I'm down to 15% body fat from a high of 45. And it is only by walking. Just miles. 1500+ in the last 12 months. From .5 on my first walk Best of all, I see great emotional reawakening. I truly feel again