Natalie: Hi I'm Natalie Ledwell and this is the Inspiration Show. Now we have a very special show today, we're actually in Hawaii at the moment so if you could hear those waves crashing in the background, is because the water is kind of just there. Just a stone's throw from where we are. You know what it amazes me the randomness of things that happen and the people that we meet when we're traveling. Now one of those random events is actually meeting Mercedes Maidana. Hi Mercedes how are you?

Mercedes: Hi Natalie I'm doing good, thank you.

Natalie: Now I heard Mercedes, a story which say, which is so inspirational and has so many lessons for us to learn, that I had to have her on the show, which is why I have her so that she can sit here and record this video with us. So, Maidana, sorry, Mercedes, you know that with the Passion Peeps videos we ask everyone the same 5 questions.

Mercedes: Okay.

Natalie: Ok, so the first question is that; when you are really living all life for passion, it wasn't really an easy road for you and your story is really inspirational and has so many lessons in it. Can you share with what your story is?

Mercedes: Well it's a long story but I'll try to make it short for you. I come from a big city from Buenos Aires in Argentina. I grew up in a city, and I never had too much contact with the water until I was 21 years old, that was 9 years ago. So you can look how old I am now. And at the age of 21 I went through a big crisis in my life, something very dark that I went through, and I was really depressed and I was pretty much numb and I couldn't do anything. So one of my friends took me all over the country and she invited me to go to Brazil to take a holiday. And that's where I discover surfing just by random co-incidence, you wanna call it. Since I touched a surf board, everything changed, and I couldn't just stop doing it, and I fell in love with the sport and that took me to actually realize that, that was my passion and my call in life. So, I started trolling the word to become a Brazil surfer, and self-defense sports and was basically trying to find a place where I could live, where I can have the beach and waves and surf every day because I come from a city that is four hours away from the ocean, and everybody around me thinking that absolutely nuts because I left everything that I was doing. I had a little company there, clothing company and I just closed it down and with that money I went all over the world to surf. Nobody would understand me, they ask me like, what are you doing? How can you leave your family? Your friends? Why do you accomplishing this country and going with while with a backpack? And I'm being just following my dream and knowing that I wanted to surf every day of my life, and eventually a few years later I ended up in Hawaii, here. And this is my beloved home now. Here is where my heart is also, and since I came to Hawaii, another passion developed that was big as surfing. As you know here we have the biggest wanes in the world and the best breaks. Year by year as still get more confident, more enthusiastic about surfing bigger waves, and I realized that was my real passion; to be a big waves surfer. So that's what I'm doing now after a few years of surfing.

Natalie: Great cause you know I often find it's like, it's like one event or like a series of events that get you from being depressed to following your passion to being a big waves surfer. None of these many goals have actually participated this far. So what was that specific event, or what have led you to where you are right now?

Mercedes: It was a broken-heart event and it was a very humiliating situation. That the person I was dating went to date a very famous woman in my country so I actually found out that he was dating this person through magazines and everybody in my environment was like; what? What is going on? I don't know, I only know this thing that you know. But it was really hard. It was a bunch of months where all I would see, everyone in the streets were these people in the magazine, and I was just, it was just... I've got my heart really broken and so, that was the main event. At that time, I remembered actually when I that happened, when I discovered what was happening, I made a conscious decision that moment which I really think It was spirit, it wasn't in my mind, it wasn't from my heart, it was something from higher than me. I knew it was 2 paths, one was the darkness and one was the light and the relationship I was with that person was pretty dark and it was very intense with the big highs, the big lows, and it wasn't really the healthiest thing for me to be on. And I was doing a life style that wasn't serving me at all. So, it was basically ok, you're gonna use this opportunity and change your life, or you're gonna just keep going down, down, down and down, you know. I don't wanna touch anymore bottoms, I've had a many different bottoms throughout my life and very painful and that's the last one I wanna have. So, I feel like, you choose, you know, you kind have a choice right now, and that didn't mean that, I mean I still have to struggle to the pain, I have to go through my emotions and that took many years actually. It wasn't like, ok, I just relied and I am happy. You know, it was a lot of work, a lot of counseling, a lot of crying, like I think 2 years straight every single day. But always knowing that I'm transforming my life and I'm choosing something different. So, the surfing was the cherry of the pie and that was the gift that God gave me. So, I could have really joyful life and full of nature and light and being healthy, so long there are nice people and trolling the world. But, I think it was so because I was really surrendered to do my know work and the whistle was, you know like pull the sleeves up, ok we got to work, we got to do this and gotta go through the tunnel, after the tunnel there's light.

Natalie: I can imagine like, being a big waves surfer girl, that kind to be like all a filthy road over, I mean surely that has challenges too.

Mercedes: Yeah. I don't personally buy into that, I just see myself, I see myself as a surfer, I'm a person that is in the water trying to get the waves that are there and I don't think of myself that I'm weaker r stronger, or special because I'm a woman... I'm just a surfer in the water and I'm following the goals that I need to follow in the line-up, so I try not to buy into whatever judgment or praising, you know the good the bad, you know. I don't even wanna buy into that, I'm just gonna go there because I enjoy it.

Natalie: Right. Awesome, now I know that success doesn't just happen and all success of people have specific routine or have specific habits that they do every day to keep them on track. So what are those some habits for you?

Mercedes: Well, my number one habit is meditation, and I need to do that every single day, and nobody's obligating me but the days that I really don't do it, yeah usually start going in a downward spiral and maybe, some one day, the next and the other, I got too busy and I'm not meditating and suddenly I'm overwhelmed and stressed-out and cranky, complaining, and I realized I gotta put myself back in alignment with something bigger than me. That's what serves me the most actually. So I deep think my inner work and then I do my outer work, especially with big waves surfing is being committed to discipline and training by being very fit physically, so I can endure the wipe-outs and carrying the big boards and the strains when you are being carried by a big wave. So, I'm trying to do first my inner and the outer, the outer action of you know, giving myself the self-title of athlete. Yes, basically that's what I'm doing to get myself focused on trying to be positive in life and having my goals where I can see them in a wave so I know where I'm going towards to.

Natalie: Wonderful. Ok, you come in really qualified to answer this question because I get a lot of emails from people that ask on how I can stay positive when everything around me is negative, when everything seems to work against me, like how can I stay positive in move out of that. So, what advice do you have for people in that situation?

Mercedes: Well I would just say what works for me, the first thing I personally do is forgive myself for being in the moment that I'm being stuck because I usually tend to add more judgment like I should be happy, I should be grateful, I know what, I just, sometimes I am not. So, I accept it first. Today I'm absolutely cranky, I don't want to get out of the couch, I wanna eat Doritos all day long. Not gonna do my healthy diet, I just wanna watch America's Top Model all day long in marathon. So first I come into terms like you know, this is what I'm gonna do today, I'm gonna be lazy, I'm gonna be depressed, just by acknowledging that, I think that 80% of my problem already goes because it's mostly the pressure that I bring into myself to be in a good space you know. So I release the pressure and I accept who I am and then I surrender and I ask my higher power to take me through a day. So I basically, I literally make a prayer inside of me and I invite God, and I say you know what I can do it today so you do for me, you do with me. And just show me the actions, the thoughts, what you want me to say, what you want me to do, that's it to there. So that's what I can, maybe show somebody.

Natalie: It's a great answer. Now my last question and maybe have to narrow this down to one thing, but if you have one piece of advice, one action set people can implement today that will facilitate a positive change in their life, what would that one thing be?

Mercedes: Okay, for me, what I am discovering lately is that to be in connection with myself, in connection with receiving the loving from spirit and that's where everything starts and ends. So, for me is to find that sacred space inside of you, where you can close your eyes and find that everything is center inside and find that loving side. I'm just being that space without expectations, without doing anything, just being, feeling it. The loving or the peace that is always there available that we are having inside of us. But were so busy, we have so many layers, and so many things are blocking it, so it's just a matter of giving it a time and space to be in connection. For me, everything starts from there and on a practical note I would say; for me it helps me to do a lot of vision boards or treasure maps where you can put images, some words, affirmations of things you want to move into your life, so maybe just put the qualities of what you wanna be experiencing. If you are depressed, you can make a board where you can put images of joy and laughter and you know, happiness and gratitude. It can be your images or something that relates to you and just you know, something that you know, that's what you want and that's what you're to and you have a goal and it's there, you know. So once you see it, you know it's gonna manifest.

Natalie: It keeps your mind in you, you know you might not hold behind mind movies. Now being able to have that, watch that movie with your affirmations and everything and it really raise your vibration and get you into a more positive point.

Mercedes: Exactly.

Natalie: Look, congratulations on everything that you have achieved. I know that, that it's difficult especially it's women's surfing ticket sponsors, and now that you have a sponsor with Patagonia and you've done so well for yourself. It's actually inspiration to go from a point of well that is despair really, I mean to be publicly added like that of your relationship that I can't even imagine, but then to be able to make such a positive life in all that which is such an inspiration. So if people wanna find out more about you, and I know that you got some great videos out there of you surfing the big waves and everything, where can we send everybody?

Mercedes: Well you can see my website mercedesmaidana.com or you can find me on Facebook, my actual page as well.

Natalie: So how do you spell your name just so that we get it correct for people to find you.

Mercedes: Okay it's M-e-r-c-e-d-e-s, like the car Mercedes, Maidana is M-a-i-d-a-n-a, Maidana.

Natalie: Great. And if you just click on the banner to side that will take you through to Mercedes' Facebook page and you can find out more about her and have a look at this some amazing videos of her surfing this big waves. So thanks again for joining us Mercedes. So guys remember this, anything here that you know the useful information, please share the love, share the video by clicking the Facebook and twitter share buttons above. And if you haven't done so already, make sure that you leave your email on the box above so that we can send you 6 pre-made Mind Movies and we'll also keep you up to date with all of the upcoming shows. So till the next time, remember to live large, choose courageously, and love without limits. We'll see you soon.

Mercedes: Bye.