WHAT ARE SOME THINGS YOU HAVE FELT WITH YOUR HEART?
What does it mean to be able to feel things with your heart that you can’t see or touch? When I think about the things that have meant the most to me in life they are not material things, at all, but memories that I hold on to that have become the fabric of my life… A smell, a song, a thought… a memory that triggers something deep inside my soul that moves me and rocks me to my core.
Every now and again, unexpectedly, I sense a waft of my past with the smell of my Nonnie’s Vintage Coty Airspun face powder that brings me back to my childhood where it sat on the back of the toilet waiting for me to powder my face while the sweet smell of raspberry jelly thumbprint cookies filled the air and memories of making salam (salami) sandwiches and green jello molds with pineapples and cherries bring me to my knees. I feel the memory building up emotion inside and start churning in the pit of my stomach and swirl up to my throat cutting off the air long enough to sting my nose and burn my eyes.
Closing my eyes in silence I allow myself to feel it all… the joy, the pain, the sadness… and then, just when my heart feels like it is going to burst… my heart feels grateful for being alive to have experienced those memories and then honoring them at the same time accepting that she is no longer here and accepting the things I cannot change.
What are some of those memories for you?
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Let’s face it… life is hard! We all have dreams; big and small. Things don’t always go as planned. Whether you’ve experienced sickness or the loss of a loved one, a heartbreak that shattered your world, or struggle with anxiety and/or depression that paralyzes your soul…we’ve all experienced a moment or moments in time where we wonder how life could possibly go on. We feel alone and left behind with nowhere to go but inside ourselves.
My life is like the life cycle of this butterfly. Let me elaborate. The caterpillar years were my early childhood years. My teenage years started making me hard from the inside out. I endured a lot of tears from pain I wanted to hide from the world.
I began to shelter myself from others and created a cocoon around me…a wall so high and wide no one could break it’s cast and see inside to see what I was going through. I stayed in my cocoon for many years and didn’t even realize it. I was changing on the inside and through that change I wanted to stay away from everything and everyone around me…until one day… I saw a glimmer of light… and that was the moment I realized I needed to make the most difficult decision of my life… and I made it! I broke free!!! I spread my wings like the butterfly I am now and soared from my cocoon; free…free from the pain, betrayal, confusion, uncertainty and all the things that changed me.
These painful changes made me who I am today. I am positivity with a light in my soul and that is why I consider myself a Positivity Warrior.
So whatever situation you may have encountered in your life, Remember This… at the end of the day there WILL be a light… and you, too, are a Positivity Warrior.
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HOW WILL YOU EVALUATE YOUR LIFE?
Life is fleeting. There is no doubt. The days fly by… and if we blink… we miss them. How many times have you heard someone say, ” It seems like just yesterday I was holding them in my arms and couldn’t wait for them to walk and talk?” Now, you’re watching them walk across the stage at graduation or giving their hand away in marriage.
Perhaps you’ve experienced the gut- wrenching sadness of losing someone you love dearly and feel like there just wasn’t enough time with them.
Maybe you’re in a funk and you just want to make it through the day so you keep yourself busy until it is time for bed; or maybe you never made it out of bed today and pulled the covers over your head and dreamt of the moment you wake up and feel the calm and peace you wish for every day… and for a while, days pass while you sit in darkness wondering how the rest of the world can go on.
The truth is…every day will not always be your best day and your worst days will pass… giving you the chance to get up and start anew. At the end of the day, how will you evaluate your life, validate your life, and change your mindset to make tomorrow better?
When I sit on the beach or on a dock and watch the sun set it reminds me that life truly is fleeting. I reflect on my day and ask three questions to hold myself accountable to my purpose in life and evaluate whether or not my actions and experiences aligned with who I am (my authentic self), and my purpose (who I strive to be and what I dream of doing). Those questions are…
Did I live well?
Did I love to the best of my ability?
Did I make a difference?
Each sunset is an opportunity to ask myself, “Did I live my best life today?” I am grateful for the things that aligned with my path, honor the things I need to leave behind, and take note of the lessons learned. When the sun “hits the water” and clears what doesn’t serve me anymore… I think about what I can do tomorrow to make it even better than today.
Did I love to the best of my ability? No matter how I’ve felt throughout the day I want my actions to come from a place of love and not a reaction from any feelings that left me angry, hurt or empty. Did my words help or did they hurt…and if they hurt… how am I going to make things right? Asking myself this question holds me accountable for my actions so I can do better next time… because once you know better… you can do better.
Did I make a difference? No one knows what is going on in the heart of the person standing next to them. I have found the most effective way to change my mindset and bring more positivity in my life is to turn it around and make a positive impact on those around me. I try to do this is by letting people know their voice matters, complimenting them, engaging in a conversation about something I know is important to them, or lending a helping hand. There’s no better feeling than lifting others up and acknowledging their worth.
We love sunsets. They are a spectacle to experience. You see people come in and crowd the beaches at sunset to capture the glimmer of the sun dozing off into the horizon and you can almost hear the water sizzle as it sinks down, down, down and gets tucked in for the night… until dawn, when it rises fresh and crisp into the morning air blazing life back into the world. Each sunrise is a gift to unwrap… made of all the things that made us who we are today. It’s another chance to do things better than we did the day before… another opportunity to shine your light into the world!
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THIS, TOO, SHALL PASS
Looking out over the pristine water I see the beauty of creation set before me. Snow is covering the life waiting to bloom below my feet as the frigid, crisp breeze floats by catching my breath and momentarily numbing my soul as I reflect on where I’ve been and where I have yet to go.
I am grateful for all life has offered, and yet, there is a numbness tucked so deep inside I protect that part of me with all the energy in my soul. The patterns of my life that have repeated themselves in an endless cycle have left me feeling vacant and I retreat into my safe place inside myself… feeling nothing, saying nothing, doing nothing.
As time crawls past, I look down and see a sprout of green peeking up from the melting snow as the sun sends down a ray of light. It is a glimmer of hope. Hope that even though I feel like things are at a standstill there is life brewing underneath that I cannot yet see.
Something starts to change within me as the hope transforms to faith that whatever is being prepared for me is going to outshine and outlive the season I am in. I start to believe that as the sun warms the earth below my feet… whatever hurdle or hurt that is keeping me from blossoming into the person I am meant to be will be removed as I blossom into the light I know is me!
And Sometimes the Path you Take Leads you Right Back to Yourself
