Happy Monday Ladies!!  It’s a BIG Monday!

We’ve got a day full of inspiration!  Today we want to introduce you to more than 50 New Friends, and be Encouraged by 30 More!!

But first…The Deadline for SOAR! Applications and Video Entries is TONIGHT at MIDNIGHT PST!

Amazing, beautiful women have been uploading their applications and video entries ALL weekend!  You have to meet these women!!  More than 50 ladies whose stories and courage will inspire you.  And if you have a second, leave them a comment of good cheer!

One more housekeeping item:

If you have or plan to apply, keep in mind two things that judges have noticed.

1.  Your video entry must show your name during the video (preferably the beginning).

2.  Your video entry must not be any longer than two minutes (preferably 90 seconds at most).

These are two of the four Video Requirements on the SOAR! FAQ page.  All four requirements must be met or your video and application will be inellegible.

I was going to show you an incredible video today from an applicant last year, but I’m going to wait.  You have to CLICK HERE and see the latest 2010 SOAR! Entries!

They are just wonderful, every single one!

After you watch these videos, scroll down to the comments in Friday’s blog post “We Can’t Let Our Fear have the Last Word”. Over 30 women left comments full of strength, courage and wisdom.  These women are from all walks of life.   Dawn Davis, a dear friend, is one of them.  She and her husband own a photography studio in Chicago that have photographed more celebrities than I can count.  On Friday Dawn wrote;

I say we kick fear in the ass! I think of fear as a gift from God that keeps us close to Him. What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger and I truly believe that. Bob and I used to have a saying “One step forward, ten steps back” and “If was easy, it wasn’t meant for us”. After reading a couple of really inspiring books that were a Dear Dawn to me, we decided to focus on putting only positive thoughts in our minds. Our entire lives changed that day. It’s not easy, and nothing good comes easy but I do have to say that all the negative thoughts we tell ourselves are TRUE!…

Ariane Hunter, a SOAR! Applicant from last year, shared her heart for women to take courage and apply to SOAR!;

Words CANNOT express how much applying for SOAR last year has truly changed me. It showed me a strength I never knew I had. It let the impossible become possible. No, I did not win the scholarship last year but I am so very grateful for having even participated. I am the type of person who never thinks that I could actually win let alone do what it takes to prove that I should be selected. Those voices of doubt and fear always got the best of me. But for some reason, I applied for SOAR and although I did not win I was made a better person in so many ways. And to me, that is winning.

In case you’re interested, here was my SOAR video from last year (https://fioria.us/soarblog/?cat=11) #251. If I can do it, I know with all my heart, that you can too. Best of luck to all of the applicants this year !

Marcia Stuhler was another SOAR! Applicant last year who left a powerful comment of what’s happened since she turned in her SOAR! video and application 12 months ago;

Ladies…what happened last year after not winning the SOAR scholarship FAR EXCEED my wildest dreams. I knew when I submitted my video that I didn’t have a shot at winning. I was pregnant, I had a full-time job, I was trying to figure out this thing called a “business” and here I have a woman challenging me. Challenging me to look inside myself and figure out what I wanted from not just my business but from what life brings you. I mumbled and fumbled though my video because I was nervous and scared. I was scared of saying my hopes and dreams out loud. However, after reading the blog and watching a few videos I knew that if I was going to ever make it (in anything really) I needed to push myself…just a bit more.

I am so glad that I did! Once the winners were announced various groups started forming of other “sisters” that entered. They finally had someone they could connect too that wouldn’t judge them and a solid support network. To this day, these same women that didn’t win have become some of my best friends. I look to them for guidance and they will tell me I am crazy or will give me a virtual high-five when I am doing great.

So SOAR is so much more than a 2 minute video where you are trying to wow the judges about why you should be a recipient of the scholarship. It is a membership to one of the coolest sororities out there. There isn’t a cost to join, there isn’t a pretentious vibe and you can finally be yourself for once.

So apply…because I can’t even begin to count how many women I have met in the last year have profoundly changed my life…

And there are THIRTY MORE inspiring stories from Friday’s blog post!  Just CLICK HERE to read all of them!

I pray that you feel surrounded by women who believe in you and your dreams.  I pray their words and experiences fill your heart and maybe even give you that extra dose of encouragement to get your video and application turned in by midnight tonight!

Be Filled Up this Morning and Take Hold of Courage!

xoxo,

m

p.s.  If you run into any issues uploading your SOAR! video, email help@smugmug.com.  If they aren’t able to trouble shoot the issue, email us at soar@fioria.us.