The following Excerpt was original published at Time of Your Life Now
I met Sara Schulting-Kranz in April while assisting at a course in Northern California. Her energy and enthusiasm were infectious but what really made me stop in my shoes and say ‘Whaaat!?!’ was a photo that a tourist on a whale watching boat took of her stand up paddle boarding (SUPing) with a whale. Sara recently went through a life-changing journey when her husband of 20 years dropped a bombshell on their family, resulting a transformational life and career change. Sara is now a life coach who combines her passion for adventure with helping others to be their best selves. Here is her story.
Tell us about yourself and your lifestyle.
My name is Sara Schulting-Kranz and I reside in Hermosa Beach, California. Originally I am from a small farming town in the Midwest, Black Earth, Wisconsin – talk about polar opposites. My lifestyle consists of being a mom, best friend, adventurer, athlete, family secretary, volunteer, the list is endless. The aspect of my lifestyle I cherish the most is helping others by combining life coaching and adventure. When you combine the two, powerful energies are created that empower people to go places they never thought possible. I would call my lifestyle ‘Loving Life & Living Boldly’!
I have hiked down into the Grand Canyon seven times. I have hiked rim-to-rim in one day, twice. I have summited Mt. Whitney, climbed Half Dome, taken my kids on a 6-week road trip where we visited eleven National Parks, I ran a 50 mile ultra marathon three times, I scuba dive, and I have participated in the paddle-run-paddle two times. That is where you SUP (stand up paddle) 22 miles from the mainland to Catalina Island, run a marathon the next day, and then paddle home the third day.
I also love to camp under the stars, make fires, cook, drink wine with friends, play board games and cards, relax on a boat, be silly with my niece and nephews, watch my kids play sports, talk ‘life’ with our family, and I love love love the Holidays. I LOVE family traditions.
Tell us about your past.
I have always been a person that loves adventure but even more so, loves life. I love trying new things, meeting new people, and helping others. I scuba dive, stand up paddle, run marathons/ultra-marathons, hike anywhere, love to road trip…pretty much, I will try it! Experiencing life by pushing myself to great lengths allows me to test myself and realize where I can really go with my mind, body and spirit. I came to a point where I loved having ME feel this awesomeness, but I really wanted others to feel it as well. That’s the former teacher in me coming out: believing in everyone and wanting everyone to believe in themselves.
What prompted you to change your life?
My best friend/soon to be ex-husband (yup, I put those two phrases together) came to me recently, after nearly 20 years of marriage, and told me he was gay. That was a turning point in my life. How was I going to go on? What did my future look like? Is it possible in society to be best friends with your ex after so much pain, and what would people think? How do you raise three strong boys in this situation? Then I realized something: you do exactly what you did when you took those last steps to climb Mt. Whitney, paddle 22 miles across the channel to Catalina Island, or run 50 miles in an ultra marathon.
You keep going. You keep putting one foot in front of the other. You don’t stop paddling, even when it hurts. To stop gets you nowhere. Instead, you believe in yourself.
You gain a new perspective when you are looking high from a mountain or paddling deep in the ocean with nothing but blue waters surrounding you. You realize that in the grand scheme of life, you are but a speck and shouldn’t care what others think or how they react. You are you. You make your own choices. You learn from what is given to you and, in return, you can teach others.
So, I decided to forgive my best friend. We decided together to continue doing what we do best: be the best of friends, support each other’s dreams, live large, and teach our boys what it is to love yourself and others unconditionally.
Will everyone understand? No.
Do I care? Not really.
But if someone, anyone reads this and feels an ounce of ‘Wow, if she can do that, I can do this’, then THAT gives more credit to this journey, and makes it so worth sharing this story.
