eighteen

what you need is all around you.

the last post of 2011. I’m thinking it should be something monumental. so I go searching through my lists of fortune cookie sayings seeking the sound of trumpets pronouncing greatness.

listening. listening. and then a small ‘bing’ registers in my head. and I have it.

the funny part is I’ve always had it. that is what is monumental about this post. all that I have been wondering. worrying. waivering. about has been there all the time. faith. love. happiness. self-worth. gratitude. graciousness. all within my grasp. I can reach out. gently keep hold. sometimes letting go (whether in wisdom or fear). knowing in due time it will return.

but the truth is for me to take hold I must let go. know myself. be true. be honest in what I can do. handle. juggle. let slip through my fingers. I must trust in the fact that to hold it in my hands is not always the key. I can hold it in my heart. in my head. and it will remain. as beautiful as always.

peace.

seventeen

be merry.

and bright. in thought. word and deed. indeed.

be kind. be thankful. be grateful. be graceful. be the best part of us.

peace.

sixteen

nothing is impossible to a willing heart.

lately I’ve been learning a lot about myself. studying really. reading. thinking. reacting. responding. there are things I’m liking. and those not so much. but I realize that I must understand what I do not like to react and respond. choose love, not fear baby.

but I am afraid. quite a bit actually. sometimes overwhelming so. and no matter how much I repeat the mantra, love not fear, fear pulls ahead. I know I am not alone in my feelings. my fearfulness. but I also know I am surrounded by love. in my prayers each night as I talk with god I thank him for that love that is all around me. my head. my heart. every fiber of my being. every step I take. forward or backward. it’s all in the journey.

and I am oh so compliant to the task(s) at hand. able. enthusiastic. still a work in progress. but working toward progress. gracefully.

peace.

fifteen

you are almost there.

good. now where am I going?

I ask myself this question daily. this week I have approached life with a determination to settle the unsettled. but for some reason, today I stopped to think. is it really necessary to have a destination? after all. it is the almost the end of the year. I simply want to be caught up in the life and love of the season.

so as for today and till the end of 2011 I will adopt the mentality to ‘put down that map and get wonderfully lost.’

peace.

fourteen

welcome change.

the first day of December. another year has hurried. my, how time flies. and goes in and out – like a lion and a lamb. sometimes progressing. sometimes stagnating. sometimes wonderfully stationary. never a dull moment.

I’m not sure what to expect from 2012. but I’m ready for a bit of adventure. to embrace life newly discovered. I look forward to examining some new principles learned here.

courage.
compassion.
connection.

these words join my mantra to choose love not fear baby. because when we choose we

~ make the world around us a little braver and the people a little better.
~ find a healthier way of relating to myself and others. gracefully.
~ expand our capacities to include connection at every turn and it's about practicing what it means to be brave in love.

these definitions come from wise women. Brené Brown. Kristin Neff. Kelly Rae Roberts. but until put into motion are only words on a page. practice makes (im)perfect.

peace.