Posted in Lifestyle

Dream Big

woman lying on flowers

There were no cell phones. There was no TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook either. There was, however, a little tv show that aired on Sunday night only. It was The Wonderful World of Disney.  And, you didn’t want to miss it because there were no re-runs either.

What I loved the most about this show, was the beginning. The spectacular Disney castle would appear as Tinkerbell flew across the screen with her wand sprinkling pixie dust everywhere. All the while, the iconic Disney song, When You Wish Upon a Star, played in the background.  I was enthralled. I envisioned living in that castle and having Tink visit my window. I was just a kid so I believed that maybe if I had some of that magic pixie dust, my dreams would come true too.

I was thinking about the opening lyrics of that song yesterday.

“When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are

Anything your heart desires will come true

If your heart is in your dream no request is too extreme

When you wish upon a star as dreamers do”

When I got a little older, I stopped wishing on stars and believing in dreams coming true.  I started to believe, instead, that dreams were simply unattainable things. That they were lovely distractions to think about when our world had become too hard or too demanding.

But I don’t believe that anymore. No, I’m not saying that Tinkerbell is going to show up with her magic wand and grant me my wishes. But look at the third verse in this song.  “If your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme.” 

Hold up, Walt! That changes everything!

Maybe it’s not the pixie dust that makes a dream come true but a good old-fashioned sprinkling of hard work and determination. Maybe by putting our heart into our dream and working for it, we’ve got a shot at achieving it!

So, dream.  Dream big.  And I mean really big! Like the most extreme dream you can imagine and then put your heart and soul into it.  Work for it. It’s why you’re here.  It’s why God woke you up this morning. He sprinkles us with faith to do the extreme, the radical, the extraordinary, and the impossible.

So, dream big and then work even bigger!

And anything your heart desires will come true!

Photo courtesy Julia Avamotive on Pexels.com

Posted in Lifestyle

The Value of Authenticity

I never realized just how much I value authenticity. More than any other trait I can think of. Being authentic means being genuine from the inside out.  When we are our authentic selves, we are true to ourselves. We act in congruence with our deepest beliefs.

I believe that it is in our true human nature to be authentic.  Before we become intimidated, tainted, and pushed around by the world we live in.

Before I rediscovered my authentic self, I was doing a lot of pretending.  Pretending to be someone I was not, pretending to be okay with things that I did not agree with.  Sometimes it’s easier to pretend than to stand up for what you believe in.  

So, when I finally found my authenticity, I made her my best friend.

Once found, I felt that she should be lauded and celebrated.  A parade thrown in her honor with ticker tape and inflatable balloons that once lofted skyward strained at the taut ropes that held them.

Strike up the band! 

Shout from the rooftops!

Authenticity has arrived from her deep, deep slumber!

But that is not her way.  She is not so audacious.  She does not require fanfare or a grand entrance.  Rather, she comes on the soft wings of a dove.  She sparks a soft new light at dawn and flutters her eyes wide awake. She inspires loyalty and integrity. 

Each day she chooses bravery and renews her commitment to herself.  She is self-aware and open-minded.  She does not seek validation from others.  She avoids conformity at all costs, and she lives each day connected to her purpose.

Her confidence is new to me, but she has settled into my heart.  And now, I cannot imagine life without her.

Photo courtesy pixabay/aalmeidah

Posted in Lifestyle

Why Not Whisper?

Last weekend I attended a wedding where the officiant shared stories about the bride and groom.  He spoke of typical things like where they grew up and how they met but he also shared a little anomaly between them.  Apparently, whenever they are alone together, they whisper to one another.  They carry out their conversations in hushed whispered tones.

The officiant did not offer any explanation as to why they do this or how it came about, however, it was mentioned that they both came from very large families where I assume life was rather noisy at times.  I know, coming from a somewhat large family myself, how loud things can be in certain instances.

When I heard this interesting fact about this couple though, I was intrigued and couldn’t get the image out of my mind.  I began thinking about the instances in which we whisper.  Of course, my first thought was that we whisper when we have a secret to tell.  But my second thought was that we whisper when we have something very important to share.  And then I thought about the effort it takes to hear someone who is whispering.

To hear a whisper, we must first quiet ourselves.  We must stop doing what we are doing.  We must stop thinking what we are thinking. We are forced to unplug and place our full attention on the whisperer.  We might even need to focus on the shapes that they make with their mouths to better understand what they are saying.

The more I thought about this newly wedded whispering couple, the more beguiled I became. But isn’t exquisite attentiveness almost always present in new beginnings?  Wouldn’t it be perfectly fitting to start your life together on the soft wings of a whisper?

Perhaps we should start a National Whisper Day.  One day a year where everyone must intentionally whisper to one another wherever they go.  Whether it’s ordering coffee or picking up dry cleaning.  How many intentional conversations might be started if we were forced to whisper and, consequently, be forced to listen?  Imagine what might happen if we truly listened to those around us for an entire day.  I think we might be astounded at what we would hear.

This weekend I attended the funeral of a good friend of ours.  There were lots of people there.  And there was quite a bit of whispering too.  Whispered sentiments of love and support.  Important whispers of shared stories and quiet laughter. Final whispers that paid tribute to one, all-too-short, lifetime.  

It occurred to me that humans are the only animals who whisper.  Who have the ability to quiet themselves and comprehend when their human counterparts are in need.  Who have the capacity to truly listen to one another whether it be in our beginnings or in our endings.  Or even, most especially, in our middle places. Those places between the special beginnings and sorrowful endings where an unexpected whisper truly means the most.

Photo courtesy Pixabay/AlejandroTuzzi

Posted in Lifestyle

Are You Looking At The Stars?

A good friend of mine recently retired and moved to Florida. Every so often, he sends me random photos of beautiful sunrises taken at the beach. Of course, I am completely jealous as these texts typically arrive when I am at my office headed to a meeting or on a call.  However, as I was driving to work this morning, I saw the most spectacular sunrise.  The sky was blue with swirls of translucent orange light.  The sun was peeking over the horizon sending its rays into a gathering of wispy clouds. They shimmered and danced with an iridescent glow creating a brilliant silver lining around each one of them.  It was quite spectacular. Even if viewed from the passing lane on I-75 headed south to Atlanta.

What I realized at that moment, however, is that we all look at the same sky, no matter where we are on the Earth.  We can all look up at any moment and find inspiration.  It reminded me of a favorite quote of mine by Oscar Wilde, “We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.”

I translate that to mean that we all find ourselves in different situations.  We all have our own challenges and life issues.  And we all react differently to our circumstances.  But we all have the opportunity to look at the stars, to see things in a positive light, regardless of the adversity life has thrown our way.

Perhaps you will read this and think, that’s all good and well but my situation is different.  I have had some pretty hard knocks and I just can’t see the world that way.  Let me say this, for a very long time I let my past circumstances rule my future.  I spent my time feeling victimized.  I felt that life simply was not fair and that someone, I’m not sure who, owed me an apology. 

Here’s the thing, life treats all of us unfairly.  We all make choices we regret, and we all suffer from things in which we had little or no choice about.  In my life, I have found that the greater the adversity, the greater the opportunity to make changes and get better.

The transition to viewing the stars is not always easy for us, myself included.  It takes practice and patience and a true willingness to want to see things from a positive vantage point.  My point is this:  things are going to happen that we don’t like.  But ultimately, we have the choice about how we will go about handling these situations.  We can be a victim of our surroundings or a catalyst for change. 

Les Brown said, “If I can look up, I can get up.” For me, looking up meant viewing myself as someone who was worthy, with a voice and a vision for my future.  Getting up meant that I would no longer see myself as the victim but as a survivor.  It meant that I would get up do the hard things that I never felt strong enough to do.  And, that I would make a commitment to myself to be better and more driven to change the world around me.  

So, I challenge you to look up at the stars, no matter where you are and envision your life as more than the current set of challenges that you face.  To put forth an effort toward seeing things from a new perspective and toward living your best life.  And to remember this quote from Wayne Dyer, “When you change what you look at, what you look at changes.”  

Photo courtesy Pixabay/Nikiko

Posted in Lifestyle

Word Of The Year

alphabet close up communication conceptual

A couple of years ago I began selecting a “word of the year” in place of making a traditional New Year’s resolution.  In the past couple of years, I have chosen words such as shine and grow. 

This year my word is emerge. 

The definition of emerge is to move away from something and come in to view; to become apparent or known.  When I think of something that emerges, I think of something that has been in existence but finally comes into the light.  To me, the word also suggests a slow yet prominent force that, once apparent, cannot be denied. 

And so, I am ready to emerge.  To become visible.  I see 2022 as a year of growth, open doors, and immeasurable change.

If you are ready to find your “word of the year”, I have put together a list of steps to help you get started.

Step One:  Spend a little time thinking about an area of your life you would like to improve.  Is there an area that you are struggling with?  Is there an area where you would like to grow?

Step Two:  Make a list of word choices that define an area you would like to focus on.  Write down anything you can think of and then choose a word that is actionable.  Here are just a few words to get you started:

Align

Balance

Better

Breathe

Calm

Confidence

Dream

Empower

Forgiveness

Gratitude

Thrive

Step Three:  Keep it simple all you overachievers! Choose just ONE word.

Step Four:  Make that word your “word of the year”.  Make it visible and practice it daily.  Tape it on your bathroom mirror, place it on your cellphone screen, print it on card stock, and attach it to your keychain.  Anywhere you will see it as a daily reminder.  Remember, what you focus on, expands.

Step Five:  Come up with a plan to incorporate it into your daily life and have an awesome 2022!

In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”  Ghandi

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Posted in Lifestyle

Darkest Night

It’s Christmas Eve and I am drawn to childhood memories that surround this special holiday.  One thing I remember was attending church the night before Christmas. Everything about that night was special.  Besides the obvious coming of Santa Claus that very evening, there was also this quite unusual visit to church.  It all seemed so mysterious, dressing up and heading across town when normally it would have been time to head to bed. 

And I was always excited knowing that at some point in the evening, I would be handed a little white candle with a cardboard ring around the bottom.  Not long after that, someone would light it, and together we would all sing Silent Night.  I remember being fixated on the candle that I held diligently in front of me and I knew that it was something special.

“Longest Night” or “Darkest Night” church services are usually held on the longest night of the calendar year, December 21st, or on Christmas Eve and are centered around the birth of Jesus. Other times, however, these services center around quiet prayer and healing as many people find that Christmas can be a painful time.

And so, I wonder how this same service, this darkest night service that always brought me such wonder and joy can be the same service that so many seek out to find solace from the world.  From painful memories, lost jobs, lost loved ones, or simply a hard life. 

The thing is, whether you view the darkest night from the wonder of a child or from a weary life in need of relief, the message is still the same.  A child came to us in the darkest of times, on the darkest of nights, to heal a broken world and give us peace.

And so, this Christmas, when we all sing “all is calm, all is bright” in a world that feels vastly different from that, I hope we can remember the love and peace that is always with us. Tonight we will light a small candle as a reminder of what is to come.  Even in our darkest of nights, we welcome the light of the star of Bethlehem and the newborn King bringing peace on Earth and goodwill toward men.   

Posted in Lifestyle

Clickety-Clack!

I awoke this morning in a soft, warm bed, a handstitched quilt depicting bears and pine trees pulled snuggly beneath my chin.  The aroma of freshly brewed coffee was enticing me from beneath my covers when I heard the faint, distant sound of a train whistle.  First softly, then with increasing volume, as it neared our cabin. 

Old memories flooded back to me, for this was the sound of new beginnings.  It was the same sound that woke me each Saturday morning in our first home as newlyweds.  Not with a jolt, but with a familiar distant rumble and a low-throated whistle.  The sound of the train was so constant that, most times, I barely noticed it.  It became the monotonous steady rhythm of the day and the ever-present vigil of the night.  It resonated softly in the background of my life.

This same train often caught me on my way to work in the morning, chastising me for leaving late.  Even so, there was something mesmerizing about it as I sat impatiently waiting for the lights to stop flashing and the cross-arms to release me on my way.  The train seemed to murmur to me…

Where are you headed in such a hurry? 

Click- Clack, Click-Clack

What’s so important?

Click-Clack

What is it you suppose you are missing?

Click-Clack-Clickety-Clack

After an eternity, the gates would lift ever so slowly.  And I would race to my next appointment, endeavor, or undertaking never considering these important life questions. 

So, it is ironic that I hear my old friend beckoning this morning.  Does he know of all that has happened in the blink of an eye?  Did he know my children would grow up too fast?  Did he know that friends and parents would leave without the chance to say farewell?  I am aware that time continues to press ahead at an alarming rate despite my attempts to slow it down. 

It is good to hear this reminder again.  It is good to hear the steady rhythm and the long, slow whistle informing me that there is still time for everything. 

Remember where you’re headed today.

Click- Clack, Click-Clack

Remember what’s important.

Click-Clack

Focus on what is lovely and necessary, otherwise, you might miss it.

Click-Clack-Clickety-Clack

Slow your pace and fall into the steady rhythm of a life well-balanced.  Remember to be present and alive in every moment.  Admit that we know very little about ourselves and why we are here together.  Then, make a commitment to finding these things out.  Because these things are worth the finding.   

But mostly, live a life of fullness and potential because there is still time to do so. 

Posted in Lifestyle

What’s the biggest risk of all?

My husband and I used to chaperone camping trips for our church youth group.  At breakfast each morning, we would exchange stories about how the prior evening had gone with a cabin full of middle school kids.

Since my husband’s cabin was full of boys, the stories revolved mostly around the hotly contested nightly poker games.  The ante?   Goldfish crackers and mini marshmallows.  They played hard and fast and almost always went “all in”.  The term “all in” in poker is when you push all your chips to the center of the table, betting everything you have on just one hand. If you win, you win everything.  If you lose, you lose everything.

In poker, you usually need to have a lot of confidence in your cards or be extremely desperate to go all in.   My husband said that in these games it was neither.  For the boys, it was simply about the fun and excitement of playing the game and risking everything they had on the chance of winning it all!

Of course, it’s easy to risk it all when we’re talking about goldfish crackers and mini marshmallows.  Right?   But that’s not how the boys saw it.  This small band of risk-takers was not concerned with losing what they had, they were only concerned with what might be gained.

Too often, we look at the cards we have been dealt in life, and we pass on playing the game.  We don’t like the cards we have been given so we sit and wait for better cards. In essence, we do nothing.

In life, when we go all in, we look at our cards and we play them.  For better or worse.  We decide that it’s now or never and we quit waiting for something better to come along.  In other words, we stop wishing for a miracle and take action instead.

Not living the life we are given is the biggest risk of all. 

Isn’t it time we went all in?   Isn’t it time to risk what we have for something that we believe in?  Isn’t it time to stop waiting and start pursuing our dreams and passions?  If not now, then when?

Posted in Lifestyle

Better Things

It was nearly dusk when we arrived at the small white house, its faded shutters only partially visible behind the sheets of plywood that had been haphazardly nailed over its windows.  It seemed somehow smaller now. It was as if the whole house had slumped its shoulders, breathed its last breath, and given in.   It was hard to believe that only a few weeks ago it had been my home.  

My father opened the car door.   It protested with a loud screech that cut through the quiet air.  “Stay here,” he said, “I’ll be right back.”  I knew we shouldn’t be there, even an eight-year-old child could see that.  “It’ll be okay,” he tried reassuringly, “I just want to grab some of my things.”  I nodded silently and sat watching as the sun sank further down on the horizon.

I looked out the window, wondering how he was going to get in, as he slipped into one of the long shadows at the edge of the house.  I waited with a fear that would not let me move even if I had wanted to.  Moments seemed like hours when he finally returned, threw a bag and some belongings into the back seat, and forced a smile at me.  But it wasn’t one of his real smiles.  It wasn’t the one that crept across his face and into the corners of his eyes.  That smile was gone, it had been replaced by this imposter-smile. “How about we go get a donut, okay?” he said shifting the car into reverse.

Sometimes, when you’re a kid and maybe even when you are an adult, things happen that you don’t understand.  Maybe you find that the things that had been planned are instead postponed.  And just when you think that life is taking you in one direction, suddenly, you are headed in another. 

There is a quote that I love from the movie Hope Floats:

“Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most.  So, when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up. And it will.”

We’ve all had some scary beginnings.   And we’ve already had some sad endings too.  But mostly we need to remember that we live our lives in that middle space.  Between the things that scare us and the things that make us sad.  It is only in the middle that we can find a way to make peace with the past and forge a plan for the future.

Hope does that for us.  Hope lives between sorrow and sadness.  Between beginnings and endings.  At times when we think we can’t go on.  Or, maybe, when we have lost our smile.  Hope provides the pathway to our dreams.  It is ever-present and ever-abundant.  And, it serves as the promise for expecting better things to come. 

Posted in Lifestyle

When I Want To Quit

I have a habit of writing in a journal each morning.  I have accumulated stacks of large binders filled with words.  Every couple of months, after I have exhausted all the sheets in one binder, I am excited to pick up a brand new spiral-bound notebook with its crisp new pages.  Each time, the perfectionist in me wants to make a vow to write perfectly in this new book.  To be ever so diligent in not making one mistake.  To start from page one, writing perfectly, never missing a day, and, of course, with immaculate handwriting.

The sage in me knows better.  She knows how long the road is.  She knows there will be twists and turns.  She knows that even with the best of intentions, days will be missed, and that lovely penmanship will turn into hurried scribbles.  She knows that perfection is an illusion we create to hold ourselves to a standard that we can never achieve.  That we are only human, and that willpower is fleeting.

The sage in me knows that by releasing perfection from her life she is free to create habits.  Good habits that will carry her through those times when willpower wanes.

So, this morning, I ignore the new book with its crisp white pages, and I scribble my thoughts no matter how scattered they are.  I wince at my atrocious handwriting and I continue.  I write until my hand aches and my pen runs out of ink.  My perfectionist blanches as I start anew with a different color pen.  My sage whispers, it’s okay, just keep going.

I strive each day to deny the perfectionist within me so that I may move past her whining, idiotic sentiments about how things should be done.  Without her, I can move closer to my dreams.  And I watch for my dream like a star that blinks against an inky black sky.  It twinkles and it beckons to me.

I listen, instead, for the sage.  She reminds me that there is a dream that is meant just for me.  No matter the years that pass.   I continue my journey, writing and following and learning and hoping and becoming and living.  Some days are hard and some days are even harder.  And, some days I just want to quit.

Instead, I get up early and put pen to paper.  I brew coffee and I renew the commitment I made to myself.  I stop counting the mistakes I have made.  I stop blaming myself for being beyond tardy in my blog posts.  I remind myself that perfection would love to freeze me in my tracks.  I look to the sage and I do the only thing that I can do.  I write.