Does Motivational Apparel Really Empower Women?

From time to time we talk about motivational apparel and how it may or may not help people. Some folks think motivational t shirts are great, and others don't seem to think much about them at all.

However, we have shared a few stories with you about this topic, and interestingly enough, we are NOT the only ones that think it works and is a worthwhile endeavor.

In fact, if you have been following our blog for awhile you probably read about the tshirts worn by runners, and those that were being sold by the gal that posted fortune cookie messages on tshirts.

Simply genius.

Now, we are hearing about an endeavor to help empower women through motivational apparel, and it's catching on folks. This "Kickstarter Campaign" is what many women have been waiting for from Neva. So, what is this all about?

Motivational Apparel by Neva 

Just in case you are wondering, Neva isn't the latest sportswear brand like Under Armour, but it stands for:
Nicole + Geneva. The founder, Sacha Nana started this company due to the inspiration she got from her nieces.

Sacha wanted it to be stylish, but also to employ women from South Asia. The motivational apparel is hand-stitched by women only, employing women that would otherwise have no work. As a result, these women are getting a bit liberated, earning nearly 10 times what they would with a standard job in their country.

It's not just the apparel we think about, but the opportunity the apparel creates. It's life giving in that it is giving these women a purpose, and a sense of being able to provide for their children. That is pretty amazing, and it's powerful for those of us that take our work for granted.

In our endeavor to help inspire you and encourage you each day, we want to offer you the chance right now to check out our motivational apparel that we offer, especially right now during the holiday season.

You can click HERE to view our selection of hats, decals, t shirts and more, and you can also check out the rest of our site to find out how we are helping to empower all people. We hope that we can encourage  and inspire you to do better, to do more, and that you'll be touched by what you find in our motivational apparel here at Courageous Life!.

Will You Live Your Courageous Life in 2014?

As times get tough, will you still continue to live your courageous life as we head into a new year? Closing out this year may feel a little premature, but it's right around the corner. 

In fact, it's time that the Christian community come together and make some heartfelt decisions about how the church can do better by being more, doing more, and reaching out to those that have been ignored for far too long. 

I hear a lot of Christians stating that they are being persecuted for their faith, but that is something God already told us would happen. 

There was no secrecy in His Word to us. It's up to us to decide whether or not we'll believe what He says and stand up for it. If we do, then we do so without merit, complaining, or even regretting it. 

Will You Live Your Courageous Life Now?

God never called us to a life of poverty, discontent, anger, sadness, and hate. If we have those things, they are merely a result of our own doing. This isn't to say persecution doesn't come because again, God said it would. 

If you truly are living your courageous life, isn't it an honor to come against that when it does happen? If we really are living for God, then anything we suffer for Him should be a privilege. 

We should also share the thought that persecution is coming against religions as a whole in our universe, not just the "Christian faith". Furthermore, we as Christians often like to tear down those that don't believe as we do, namely:

1. The LGBT community 
2. Other religions
3. Those from foreign countries 

This isn't the life God called us to live; He called us to live a better one. God has called us to live in freedom in Him, and to share that message with others. He never asked us to be His minions running around judging others, nor did He ask us to NOT speak to others because they are different from us. 

As God's children we should be simply taking Christian to mean, "Christ like", and follow what God teaches us in His word. Could it be any clearer that we have completely failed at this? 

As we go into a new year, we need to bring awareness that the only way to live is to live courageously. It's time to stand up for what God's Word actually teaches and not what denominations have broken it down to believe. 

It's time that we come together, focus on loving others and give our brothers and sisters a real chance to receive our message. Love is powerful, and as the world around us seems to get angrier, let it be a time for us to be different. We are in the world, but we don't have to be "of the world."

Will you join us today and vow to live your courageous as we head into 2014? 

PS-Did you enjoy the insights brought to you today in this article? Did this inspire you or give you something to think about? We want to hear from you! If you would love to start living "your courageous life", please comment below, and be sure to find us on Facebook under Courageous Life! 

Why Motivational TShirts Are Getting Attention

Have you heard that motivational tshirts are getting criticism in the Wall Street Journal. This isn't being taken lightly, in fact the writer of the article, Chad Stafko takes a harsh standpoint about these tshirts being worn by runners. 

The idea? That runners boast about what they do, and if wearing tshirts that boast they are runners isn't enough, they also have bumper stickers devoted to sharing how far they have run. Hmmm. What about those that wear stickers on the day they gave blood? 

Does that make them overzealous about it? Not necessarily. In fact, it can help to encourage others to give blood as well. Even if the decals state the number of miles they run per day, perhaps someone will see it and get motivated to take better care of themselves. Right?

The writer didn't see it that way, but at Courageous Life we look at things a bit differently. We believe that what you wear says a lot about you and what you stand for. In fact, the message on your shirt can cause someone to smile, or even change their outlook on the day completely. Would you agree? 

We aren't saying that tshirts are life changing, meaning completely, but consider the impact they could have even for a moment. Think about how great it is that someone could recall what your tshirt, hat, or even your decal said. They could even share that with someone later on in another conversation. 

Motivational tshirts aren't something that people wear to brag, but in my opinion they often encourage others to do an activity. Inspiring others to take action is what leadership is all about. The writer even states that a study shows that there were 15.5 million people participating in marathons in 2012 versus the 13 million in 2010.

So, the idea that wearing these tshirts doesn't work is simply not true. As runners wear their marathon shirts in races and as they are out and about in public, they clearly just want to share a message. We want to share ours too. 

Our message is one that states positive thoughts and at least gets others thinking about how they can inspire others too. If you want to check out the article just out of curiosity sake, you can go here: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304448204579186401818882202. 

If you would like to check out our motivational tshirts and see what we have to encourage you as well as those around you, go HERE to learn more!