Looking Forward

Dear Soul ...

We all have moments where we find space to think things through often precipitated by a random thought and no competing needs. You know those quiet moments, before you start your day and you quietly lay in bed deciding if you should get up or slip back into the warmth of more silent slumber.

I had such a moment over the holidays where I allowed my mind to wander to see what it would bring me in self-understanding and realization as I reflected. Self-reflection is good for the soul, you either keep or let go of what you see and feel, and it is a great way to be mindful, housekeeping.

On this particular Saturday morning as I meandered through the quagmire of my mind, I came to realize some significant happenings - learning albeit brief as far as posts go, in some small and simple way, you will find what you are seeking.

I have been battling cancer for two years now and with that journey there is much to learn, a quandary of things that you do not know that you do not know and the stuff you are told. If feel these can either be deterrents to finding a more positive space or life lessons. Often, I felt lost not knowing what to do so I put my student of life hat on to discover greater knowledge.

In my roaming thoughts this is what I found - a profound question.

How do you look forward to life after such a difficult challenge that brings with it new paths and new discoveries?

Deep from such a quiet Saturday morning waltz through my mind and incredibly significant to current circumstances. This question is not just applicable to those who may be experiencing cancer, it is for all of us who have found ourselves experiencing life in such a morose, cranky, ill-tempered, sullen, and difficult way. How do you find the impetus to keep going, to enjoy?

The answer seemed to waffle through my mind like a gentle breeze, it was clear and understandable.

Find gratitude - I express my deepest encouragement to record gratitude as a meaningful moment that matters. We are not just talking about saying, I am grateful for my car, my job, my house. Yes, that matters, however truly find the power of gratitude requires digging deep. Let me share an example:  "I am grateful for my life and the challenges I have faced that have brought me the gift of who I am today."

 

Live - Live life to the fullest the best you can everyday making a difference to you first. Accept that there may be limits related to health, career, and responsibilities, however you get to adapt life your way around those limits you cannot control. To live is to feel alive in the moment creating opportunities in the now to be very present to what is in front of you with exuberance. An energy that can sustain you. Remember this, know that who you are is how you live life.

This life we live is a social experiment about experience where we search for pleasure, comfort, and entertainment when really what we need is connection, harmony, likeness, purpose, and acceptance. At the root of our relationship with trees are our experiences that will either blossom into a oneness with another or create a weed or two in our life garden.

As you nurture  your light within yourself and those valuable roots, your soul garden can thrive even in the greatest of storms. All you have to do is look around you after a storm and see what you see standing - a mighty tree who tends to be roots ensuring there is strength and nourishment there. Your soul fortifying fertilizers are  SELF - See - Engage - Life Force - compassion, forgiveness, faith/belief, understanding and acceptance.

In all that I have experienced, fear has been a catalyst to render me incapable of seeing my potential. I have been blinded, frozen in mid step by the mists of a great darkness that can engulf your mind and keep you ensnared for minutes, hours, day and even weeks. Music and the written word were my key to freeing me from such dark bondage. The words that ironically freed me and brought to the surface by the universe were those of Nelson Mandela. He said, "May your choices reflect your hopes and not your fears." 

Be fully aware of the lens in which you live life - full alive or afraid.  You have within you just as I discovered to disperse that mist and move into the light by your choosing, knowing that it is a work in progress. We are each a work in progress - imperfectly perfect.

I am grateful to each of you for taking time to share a moment or two with me. May you have wings of flight to move through and above the noise of life and find the richness of who you are grounded in good soil with an abundance of gifts yet to spring from the roots of who you are.