Sep 4, 2019 | Becoming , Do The Hard Thing , Grow |
I stand in the backyard.
There are more leaves
on the ground
since yesterday.
The morning is cool
and so I seek the sun.
I step into the rays
and can’t help but
notice that the
sun is in a different spot.
The light has moved.
I turned, to see where it was
that the sun used to hit.
Ah, yes, that plant
is probably glad
for the shift in the
sun’s rays.
The seasons of the soul
are not unlike the seasons
of the earth.
There are times that the
light shines on one aspect
of life and that which
is lit up
consumes us for a bit,
holds our attention
in a bright embrace.
And then the light shifts.
That which is now
in the sun’s path
is warming,
becoming pliable,
moldable,
so that change can happen.
When the sun shifts off
of one part of who we are,
it is so that it can
cool and harden.
So that
what was once pliable
can be solid.
So that it doesn’t move.
So that what we’ve learned
in that season
can be built upon in
another season.
What is the light shining on now?
Is it causing you to
squirm,
melt,
feel undone?
This is what growth feels like.
Let the light do its work.
#PermissionGranted
Aug 29, 2019 | Be you , Becoming , Community , Grow |
If you look at my calendar
you would think it is a mess.
The same could be said for my car,
the basement, my desktop, and the laundry room.
My hope is that upon closer inspection,
you might be able to look past
the insanity, the yogurt splashes,
the boxes, the piles of shoes –
and see who I am.
The messes are messes, yes,
but there’s likely a reason they are there
and they don’t define who I am.
This is also true for my personality flaws –
and yours –
they are there for a reason,
but they don’t define
who we are.
I invite you to look past my flaws –
just as you would want me to
look past yours.
I also wish for you to help
me with my messes –
just because stubbornness
and a yogurt-splashed car
are a part of my life
doesn’t mean
I can’t make changes.
We are not forced to
stay in a mold
we can change,
morph,
grow
into people who pursue their best –
not just for their own sakes
but for the world around us.
Let’s give each other permission –
to be who we are,
right where we are…
but let’s also give permission
for others to speak
into the spaces where we
need to grow.
#PermissionGranted
Jun 5, 2019 | confidently , Do The Hard Thing , Encouragement , Grow |
Each time I stand on
the precipice of a gap –
between what I know –
and what I do not know –
I am surprised by
the question that
must be answered.
I thought I already
chose bravery?
Remember
last
time?
We’ve already been
through this.
So why, then, am I standing
here looking at this gap
and feeling queasy?
If I turn back to known
the nausea abates,
but I wither and bitter when
I stay in known
for too long.
And it has been too long.
Excuses disguised as
valid reasons cement
my feet to what I know.
The gap stares back,
demanding an answer,
taunting my hesitancy.
I lift my foot and
step forward and
the heaviness crumbles.
I choose the unknown,
again.
I choose bravery
and leave my excuses
in crumbles
at the edge of the gap.
#PermissionGranted
What decision are you facing today? Sit with it and realize you have a choice to make, a gap to face. Recognize the power of excuses. Name the excuses that are cementing you to the known.
You can do it. Again.
Choose bravery.
Apr 18, 2019 | Becoming , Do The Hard Thing , Faith , Grow |
The mess on the counter.
The weeds that need pulled.
The dog that needs walked,
The kids that need fed.
The husband that will soon come home.
The broken outlet plate.
All things I can touch,
clean, fix, mend, love.
I can hold these things,
and take care of them,
Hug them, make it better.
I can clean off the counter
and walk away with things
as they should be.
It is, for the moment,
done.
I also deal with
invisible things.
Motivation,
gratefulness,
goals,
remorse,
God,
fear,
envy,
bravery.
I can’t cross these things
off my list.
I can’t hold these
in my hand;
touch them, grasp them, capture them.
We are dealing with invisible things.
I can’t fix these with an
hour’s focused work.
Every time I turn around
these things
are still there.
Even though I usually
ignore them.
My relationship with
most invisible things is
that I trip over them.
On my face again
and this conversation, again.
“Oh.
You’re still here.
I was hoping if I ignored you,
you would just disappear.”
Even when I give the attention
that the invisible things need,
I usually only last for so long.
It’s just too easy to go back to
imminent,
urgent,
tangible,
check-it-off the list
type of things.
The temptation is real to
only deal with visible.
But life is made of
invisible things, too.
When I ignore the invisible
I am living
a partial life,
with
partial joy,
partial growth,
partial peace.
I have to give myself
permission to see
and deal with
invisible things.
I’m learning that
a full, congruent life
includes integrating the invisible things
among the visible.
This way I run
instead of trip.
What invisible things are you tripping over? What needs your attention?
Are you living a whole life? You have permission to attend to the invisible things.
#PermissionGranted
Apr 10, 2019 | Do The Hard Thing , Grow |
I had to give myself permission this week.
I have been holding off on a next step.
It wasn’t a huge step,
but each step matters
and anyway,
what really matters
is that you take them.
But I was a bit stuck.
I wasn’t taking the step.
This next step sat in
a bag that I walked
around and moved
to different locations
in the house
for a few weeks.
I had not put eyes on it
since I had brought it
to its new home.
New home?
This belongs with me?
Really?
This is for me?
I am not sure that I deserve it
or that my work really warrants it…
and so it sat.
I just didn’t think that
what I do,
what I create,
was enough
to warrant this tool –
a brand new computer.
The one sitting in the bag
in different locations
around the house.
See, this computer represents
me taking up my space –
It means I am really doing
this work of writing –
this work of creating.
And so it sat as I rushed
past it each day
until I was more frustrated with
sitting on the edge, with the full
knowledge of what I needed to do,
than unnerved about just taking the next step.
Sometimes the obstacles,
the blocks,
that try to keep us
from what we are made for
don’t really make sense to
other people.
This fact doesn’t make the
obstacle any smaller.
It just makes it harder to
define, describe, and to find a
detour around it
or a way through it.
Also, this fact should
not deter us from sharing
about our obstacles!
I shared about this block
I had with some trusted friends
and just saying it out loud
made a big difference.
Be brave and attempt to
define your obstacle
knowing it may not make sense
to others but that
sharing about it
will weaken the
hold it has on you.
The encouragement
I received
helped me take
my next step.
This post is written
and posted from
my new computer.
#PermissionGranted
Name your obstacle. Define it. Share it. Link arms with trusted friends. Overcome it.
Mar 14, 2019 | Do The Hard Thing , Grow |
Women.
We are gatherers.
It’s our default setting.
It’s been that way for a long time.
This way of being
has allowed us to provide
for our families and our communities.
We are beasts when it
comes to gathering
memories, groceries, friends, fun, and knowledge.
We round up legos, hope, craft supplies,
library books, and others around a cause
because it’s a skill we’ve honed.
We keep an arsenal of encouragement,
peacemaking, and perseverance
in storage.
Our hands are full.
Our hearts are full.
Our lives are full.
We are gatherers.
However,
a shift is needed.
Our world needs us in
different ways now.
We need to use our voices more.
We must pursue ways for our
unique strengths to be utilized
because without them,
there’s a great lack.
We have to step into the space
that we’ve been given
or create our own –
and not apologize for it.
Why would we apologize
for the talents and skills we’ve
been given and have developed?
We must pursue our passions
so that our full potential is met.
In order to do that
we might have to
put some things down.
We are going to have to let go
of the way things have always been.
We can’t carry the expectations
that others have of us.
We need to lighten our load
and release the roles that we no
longer need to own
so that we can soldier on
with what is most important.
Put it down –
whatever is unnecessary,
whatever encumbers,
whatever threatens to strangle
our hope and our passion to
see our world thrive.
Lighten your load
so that you can carry
the joy of purpose,
possibility,
and passion.
Step into what you
were made for.
No apologies.
No extra baggage.
Gather only
what fuels you.
Permission Granted.
Are you carrying something that is keeping you from carrying your passion to your full potential? Name it. Is it something that you must carry?
