When Scott Mackintosh wore the shorty-shorts we were inundated with interviews, phone calls and emails, the message that stood out and drove us to SPEAK were the many that said,
“I wish someone cared that much about me to do something like that.”
THAT tugged at our hearts and spurred us to talk about issues surrounding self-esteem, self-worth and the confidence to dance the dance, even when others say you can’t.
Scott and I have had many cool, inspiring and motivating experiences in our life, along with lots of hard lessons learned. THIS equipped us with many true life stories that EMPOWER others, Build CONFIDENCE and MOTIVATES real change. It’s rewarding to see someone’s eyes light up when they are able to see themselves as God sees them.
When our son told us he was gay and two years later we decided to go public, the response was mind-bogling, again inundated with hundreds of emails opened our eyes to the GREAT need for us to continue to be open, honest and REAL about our experience and lessons learned. Not everyone wants to be an open book, but everyone I meet desires to feel loved, respected, accepted and valued for who they are and the diversity they bring. We choose to be their voice.
Therefore…
using humor, courage and a whole lot of LOVE, we SPEAK from our heart in an effort to motivate YOU to put the FUN back in LIFE and Relationships.
If you follow my blog or follow me on Facebook, Pintrest or Twitter you know I’m pretty much an open book and I’m comfortable talking about REAL life challenges. What I’ve discovered by being REAL and AUTHENTIC is that others who are going through the same or similar challenges know they are not alone.
I understand it can be scary to be vulnerable, my stomach ached for days before I pushed the publish button to share my story of having a gay son and my motherly plea to the world to reinvest in kindness. Even though my son and I felt it was time and the right thing to do – I was still fearful of how the public would react to my son’s vulnerability. To our surprise we were inundated with positive emails, messages and phone calls along with a long stream of comments beneath the many social media shares. It has been a wonderful experience connecting with people around the world because of that ONE post. It opened the door to being invited to speak at several large LGBT conferences – hundreds have thanked us for helping them see things in a different perspective. It has been rewarding to see hearts healing, families reuniting and lives being saved.
What I have experienced and seen is that when people are real and authentic about their fears and challenges it helps others know they are not alone.
I’m not a blogger that targets a certain audience or has a certain theme. I’m kind of all over the place just as my blog title states,”Becky Mack’s Blog of Mild Chaos” I post about Family, Fun, Travels, Teens and DrEaMs! …..CHAOTIC just like REAL life!
If you follow me you have been exposed to my travels to India, the ups and downs of career changes, my love for God and family, the JOYS and CHALLENGES of parenting, my love for people of all nationalities and religions, the surprise of GOING VIRAL and everything from battling depression, to meeting incredibly inspiring people, to becoming an author and member of the NSA (National Speakers Association) and now SPEAKING. And last, but certainly not least, the wonderful journey of having a gay son and all THAT has taught me about people, compassion, love, empathy, tolerance and intolerance.
I don’t post, follow or support people or organizations who seem to thrive on being rude, bash political or religious beliefs or who pretty much have a NEGATIVE attitude about life. Life is challenging enough on it’s own without having others bring you down.
Life is too fragile and too short to wallow in misery.
I like to look for the rose amidst the thorns, and one thing I’m certain about is that we ALL experience thorns …everyone has challenges! CHEERS to those who in spite of their challenges focus on the ROSE, and CHEERS to those who rally around and support one another, boost one another and love one another. That’s what life is really about… Serving others.
Life’s a roller coaster – CHOOSE to be HaPpY!
Becky Mack’s Life Lesson: Attitude is everything. Be REAL. Be AUTHENTIC and you just may discover that the friend you thought had the perfect life has challenges too.
“It’s my birthday and I’ll cry if I want to – cry if I want to – cry if I want to”. Yes, I know the real lyrics are “It’s my PARTY and I’ll cry if I want to …” If you have no idea what I am talking about – that’s proof I AM old!
Truthfully, if I cry today for turning another year older, it’s tears of JOY, GRATITUDE and APPRECIATION for life’s experiences.
At 51 years “young” I don’t feel much older than I did in high school, it’s only when I pass a mirror that I am reminded of my age. I decided to make a list of all the things I have been fortunate to experience throughout the past half-a-century as a reminder how precious life truly is ….
Born on ranch in Montana to the best family ever!
Rode horses everyday…. okay not everyday, but a lot
Met my future husband at age 8
My mother saw that I was kept busy so I didn’t have time to get into trouble; Dance, Piano, Guitar, Voice Lessons, Gymnastics and played in the Band – alto saxophone
Grew up with 6 living grandparents
Kept busy in High School: Senior Class President, Vice-President of Ski Club, Gymnastics team-Captain, Seminary Council, Choir Secretary – these roles landed me a Leadership Scholarship to BYU!
Skier – favorite resort: Alta
Loved the College life – BYU and BYU-Hawaii
Learned to Surf and Snorkel. (hate snorkeling – claustrophobic)
Married my secret High School crush – Scott Mackintosh
Mother of 7 AMAZING kids
Natural childbirth
One C-Section
Milked goats for 12 years
Community Service “Door Knocker” Award
4H Horsemanship Leader – 17 years
England and Scotland – Twice
I’m a Cruise-a-holic – 8 Cruises
Para-Sailing- Twice (hated it – scared to death of heights)
India – Twice (loved, loved, loved my experience in India and the priceless friendships made)
Dubai
Rode a Camel and an Elephant
Camping with my family – love roasting marshmellows around a camp fire
Worked for two AMAZING Speaker/Authors: Kevin Hall and Chad Hymas which led to meeting….
Inspiring people: Immaculée Ilibagiza, Emmanuel Kelly, Rolanda Watts, Sean Stevenson, Dave Winfield, Mark Sandborn, Bridget Cook, Rebecca Musser, Lisa Nichols, Allison Byrd, Thurl Bailey, Mark Eaton, Jason Hewlett and the master of words Arthur Watkins. ….and so many others through the National Speakers Association.
Wrote a book “My Husband Wears The Short Shorts In THIS Family!”
Met and conversed with the LDS Prophet Thomas S. Monson for 20 minutes – a highlight of my life!
and the BESTEST of all ….I am a GRANDMA!
I am truly indebted to God, my Heavenly Father, who has deeply blessed me, carried me through dark times when I wanted to give up, wiped away my tears when my heart was breaking, allowed me to experience and grow through trials and challenges and has not let a day go by that God didn’t tell me or show me how much He loves me. I see it in my children’s faces, in my husband’s hug, in the flowers, the birds and the many wonderful friends that contribute to who I am. I am a child of God, a wife, mother and friend, what more could a person ask for? I can’t think of a dang thing, except for perhaps a big piece of strawberry short cake. HaPpY Birthday to me!
Hello World! This is my first WordPress blog. In fact it is my first post on my first blog:)
I love technology…though most of the time it is not a fan of me, but I am eager to learn. Technology is not so patient….it quickly moves forward, leaving me behind, but I’m trying to hop on the wagon and keep up the best I can!
Some of my family and friends ask, “Aren’t you afraid to be out there in the open…to be so public?” Absolutely NOT! Life is a journey to be enJOYed…..you only get ONE shot….I don’t want to hide, I want to play BIG! When it is all said and done, I want to have made a difference in this World…………….and blog about it:)
I am 48 years old, so most likely I’m more than half way through my life. Yikes…I better get out of my comfort zone and move my feet! My greatest loves are my family…my husband of 28 years in Sept my Seven children and three sons-in-law, a daughter-in-law and one adorable grandson. Yep! Life has been mostly good to me. I wouldn’t trade my trials (well a few of them I would:) because they have made me who I am. Raising seven kids has been a wonderful adventure…..having five in six years made it more of an adventure….five in elementary school together and five teens living in the house at one time were very memorable times…..many stories to blog about later:) My two cabooses Myley 17 and Skye 14….soon to be 15 are my only kids still at home. The house is quieter, less laundry, less garbage and the realization that they grow up too fast.
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