“The biggest failure you can have in life is making the mistake of never trying at all.” – Unknown
As September draws to a close, I'm taking the opportunity to reflect on the last 9 months. I have been bold in trying new things and pursuing new opportunities. I have definitely said, YES to my life more this year than I have in in the recent past. Perhaps that's one of the advantages of getting older (and hopefully, a bit wiser) is that fear of the unknown doesn't paralyze me quite as much as it used to. Not to say that I'm reckless, not by any means! But I am willing to do a little recon and explore my options.
As I become clearer on what I DON'T want, I can make space for the possibility of what I MAY want; I can try it on, see how it "fits" me, and decide to keep it or move on to the next option.
This blog has been calling to me. I took a break for awhile and now I feel pulled back, to share my experiences, lessons learned, and try to find my way through the daily challenges of life. I believe that life is better shared, much like a gooey, decadent dessert. Sometimes it makes you feel really good and sometimes it makes you feel sick. Either way, the experience is better when you have someone to share it with!
The most profound lessons of my life have come from allowing myself to be vulnerable with others, even when I didn't know how to do that. When I admitted that I needed help, support, or just someone to share my feelings with, more often than not, what I needed was there. I learned that not only did I have to ask for help, but I also had to allow people to help me, even when their help didn't look exactly the way I expected.
I believe that each of us is born with a unique gift that is ours alone to share with the world. No one else can do or be that one "thing" in exactly the same way that we can. The world is made so much richer by our contributions. The tragedy of today's society is that we're conditioned to conform, to fit in, to dull our special light. I think there's a huge difference between self-confidence and conceit. In an attempt to avoid the latter, we often sacrifice the former. I have suffered from feelings of "not ___ enough" my whole life, and, even now, I am uncomfortable when someone acknowledges a positive attribute that I possess. I am so conditioned to minimizing my strengths; I wish that I could provide myself with the same support and encouragement that I give to others.
But...
I'm working on it.
I'm a work in progress.
I can accept that today.
I'll never be perfect and that's OK.
As long as I'm a little better than I was yesterday, I'm moving in the right direction.
I'm glad to be back and look forward to sharing more adventures & insights with you.
Sweet dreams, lovelies!
<3
