A Constant Becoming

Will you choose hope today? Will you choose to believe you are safe, loved, and seen? Will you choose belief today? Will you choose to have faith in those who hold you close? Will you choose you today? It truly is your choice. How will you make it? In some ways, this one strikes at my very core. In my darker moments, I am an agent that is acted on by forces outside of me. Something or someone is m...

Can you be ok with not knowing until it is time? Can you allow uncertainty to be neutral rather than a crisis? Can you find time for hope as well as for fear? Can you be held in your moment of doubt? I had the joy of spending the week a few weeks ago with my family, my father, stepmother, sister, her kids, my kids, and my two grandchildren. It was the grandchildren that made me think of the openin...

Can you feel the power that comes from movement? Can the next step be enough for now? Can tomorrow be a place where you await the dawn? A new day is coming for you. Can you greet it with hope? One of my reactions to stress is to move. For me, there is nothing worse than feeling at risk and not being able to take action, even when the action may not really address what is stressing me. Taking a wal...

Can you know that those who you hold dear can feel it? Not because you show it actively but simply because it's true. Can you see the ripples that spring from your soul and embrace your impact on the world? Can you be, be big, and be you? We all feel lonely sometimes. As I write this piece on a Saturday, it has been quite the lonely week, not because of anything anyone did. But I was sick for a fe...

Can you meet it all with gratitude? The love, the anger, the joy, the sorrow, the peace, the struggle, all of it? Because all of it has made you you, has made you a shining light in the universe and a beacon to eyes that see. The first thing that I see in this intention is the “you you.” Part of me wants to change it but I’m not going to because when I wrote it, that’s how I wrote it. But in a way...

As the sun rises on a new day, can you take note of the colors and of the progression? Can you see the change in hue, the change in intensity? Can you realize that underneath that constant change is perpetual beauty? Can you see that as a metaphor for you and for your soul? A sunrise or a sunset over the water may be my favorite visual space. Not because it’s “beautiful” though it is but rather be...

Do you really fear the future or do you only fear what lies between here and there? Can you focus on what will be through the arc of the rest of your life and recognize that the near term challenges are just that, things to overcome on your path to someday? This week we’ve been talking about anxiety, fear and overcoming it. That’s in part because for the last week or so, I’ve felt increasingly stu...

Can you meet the day confident in who you are and the value you bring? Can you turn anxiety into action? Can you know that you are moving forward no matter how stuck you feel? If I had one thing I’d want stenciled in the inside of my eyelids, it would be “Can you turn anxiety into action?” It’s probably the mantra I come back to the most when I am anxious. Sitting with anxiety is one of the things...

Often our lives are full of turbulence like waves crashing on the shore. Can you face them and not face away? Can you hold on to your center? And can you know that you will persevere and like all things, the waves will pass? We all have times of turbulence in our lives and I think it’s interesting that turbulence is sometimes more deviation from the current norm than an absolute state. We can be i...

Can you fight the instinct to walk away from the things you truly want out of fear you may never achieve them? Why would you choose to set the chance of joy to zero? Why would you damage yourself by assuming you are not enough? So embrace yourself complete with flaws and keep walking the path. Clearly this week we are talking about resilience. But this intention for me is deep in the heart of it....

When you feel like you are moving backwards, getting further away from a goal, a person, a feeling; can you keep your eyes forward? Can you keep your heart full? Can you know that you are enough to take that next step? Can you believe what you most desire is always within your reach? I’m sure you’ve heard the famous saying, two steps forward, one step back. We all know progress isn’t linear. But I...

Can you face challenges, fears and difficulties with fortitude? Can you accept the emotions that come with struggle rather than denying them? Can you feel the anxiety without letting it own you? Can you know your path is in front of you and amazing things are always coming your way? I sometimes try to bury fears. I want them to go away. Or, I use them to “doom cast,” to construct a completely impr...

Can you find joy in the act of choosing? Can you find hope in your ability to change? Can you find strength in your power to influence? Can you see your impact in small ways and large? Can you be certain the world is better for you being in it? Can you be all in today? This one has always hit me hard. The hardest question for me is “Can you be certain the world is better for you being in it?” Well...

People may tell you to leave the past behind you, but can you instead leave the past with you without letting it control you? Can you realize the past is real but not a prediction? Can you see the past has lessons but you have to bring those lessons to your life? Can your soul sing and your heart have hope because today is a new day and love is coming? I always thought the phrases, “The past is th...

Can you take a step into possibility today? Can you reach for things that are not yet but will be? Can you be secure they are in your reach even when they are not yet within your grasp? Can you proceed from hope? One of the unique elements of being human or maybe being alive in general is wanting what we don’t have and, sometimes, ignoring what we do have because of it. But the fact that we don’t...

Can you believe that balance is coming? Can you look for the glimmers among the clouds? Can you accept the fall that comes after the rise? Can you ride the wave as it flows and find joy in the movement? Sometimes as I’m thinking through a week’s posting, something that I just wrote feels like it fits and this is one of those times. I used to posit my life as below average and believe there was not...

Can you believe the best today? Can you feel that life will bring you what you need, what you want? Can you see that people will greet you with love and compassion? Can you know that you are held and safe? Can you simply accept that your happiness, your hope, and your peace are written in the stars? I remember writing this one clearly. It was one of my many times of spiraling down into a sense of...

Where is your path taking you? How hard are you holding the wheel? Can you have faith in the universe and belief in those who love you most? What would happen if you took your hands off the wheel and let someone else or maybe nobody at all drive? It's possible and it may create an outcome closer to the one that is meant for you. Letting go is one of those things that is oh so easy to say and oh so...

Can you hold on to the people who sacrifice for you? Can you see the moments they choose you over themselves, not when it's convenient but when you really need it? When no sacrifice is too large, no love is too great. One of my favorite ideas from business, is “revealed preference.” It simply means that your actions show what you believe much better than what you say. And life, I think, is like th...

Can you feel the pull of one soul today? Can you feel the hand on your back, hear the voice in your ear, see the beacon ahead? Can that one soul be your world for just one moment? Can you now be that one soul for another? We live in a world of noise. We all feel it - the demands for our attention, the things that need to be done, the things we are trying to catch up on. There is always something,...

Can you see yourself clearly? Can you hold yourself closely? Can you give yourself grace? Can you find the people who connect to your soul and let them hold up a mirror, hold your hand as you walk, and lift you up when you stumble? Can you do the same for them? I’d say of all the things that have been a challenge for me for most of my life, seeing myself clearly is at the top of the list. I’ve had...

Can you know that your soul’s equilibrium is a place of peace, hope and love? When you are knocked off center as we all sometimes are can you wait a beat for the center to reassert? Rather than fighting can you wait with confidence? Can you know you are always coming home and love is forever waiting there? As you can see, we’re spending this week talking about our center and holding our equilibriu...

When your peace is disrupted by the world outside or your thoughts inside, can you accept that rather than fighting it? Can you know that the disruption is temporary and the ripples created will still but also know that another pebble or rock will fall? I’ve always loved the image of a pebble hitting still water. The moment of impact, the widening rings, the return to calm — it’s a tiny, perfect m...

Do you know your own center? Can you use that knowledge and awareness to take in what you see, hear, and feel without getting knocked down but instead emerge with a stronger conviction about who you really are? This is one of the earliest intentions I wrote. You can feel in it the version of me that was still trying to figure out where I stood — who I was beneath the noise, the expectations, the r...

THE HOME WITHIN Part 1: FOUNDATION 1. We have many homes. Some are places, some are people. But the most important home is the one within us. How do we feel welcome there every day and in every way? 2. Can you believe that beneath all the muck and the grime and the old stories, you remain at your core what you have always been, intrinsically valuable regardless of your actions? You don’t need to b...