January 25^th: Humbled

I know I have missed a few days this week, and it’s because I’ve been working on something really important- my actual life. There have been some things that desperately needed my attention, and so I decided to prioritize those things and get them sorted out. When I am depleted physically or spiritually, I don’t have much to offer in the way of inspiration. When my mind is cluttered with noise and full of meaningless worries and judgements, it doesn’t leave a lot of space for the good stuff. I think it’s a really good idea to take a step back, often, and surmise if your life is rolling along as you want and to make adjustments where they are needed. That’s what I’ve been doing.

But that isn’t what I want to write about today, not exactly. Although it is true that since I’ve decided to stop keeping up on the ultra-depressing and hysteria-inducing news, I’ve been gifted with remembering that the doom and gloom we are force-fed by the media is really just one perspective of the world and reality. I’ve been consciously choosing to tune out the negativity and take in a little more goodness, and guess what? The world hasn’t ended. No one has mocked me for my ignorance of current events. More importantly, I feel better.

MOST importantly, when there is less room for the negative, there’s a lot more room for the positive. What we focus on is what we attract, or, if that’s too hard for you to swallow, then what we focus on is what we tend to see. You can’t argue with that. Lately, I’ve noticed that there is a lot more good in the world than bad. That people are still ready to be kind and friendly if you give them the chance. Most of us want to help. Most of us want to smile back, say thank you, lend a hand.

It’s a giant planet we live on, full of wonderous things. There are probably many things in your own city or town or area that you have yet to see. There are amazing people you haven’t met. There are sunrises and sunsets, full moons and forests, stars and beaches and mountains. And you are a human being with a perfect soul and more potential, more adventure and stories within you than you could ever imagine. You have no idea what the future holds.

Today, I hope that you can take in what I’ve just said and allow yourself to be humbled. By the incredible gift of your life and the power you have to make of it anything that you desire. You might say that you don’t believe it, but that doesn’t change that it’s true. People with seemingly insurmountable challenges have made history…why should you be any different? And, if you just aren’t feeling that ambitious, all the same…go outside today, and take in something beautiful. Sit at a coffee shop and observe people talking, laughing, falling in love, or simply connecting. Tell me that isn’t a wonder, the way we need each other, or the way that we are soothed and awed by beautiful things. It’s a necessary thing, I think, to be struck wide-eyed by the beauty around us-whether it’s an ordinary thing we see every day that suddenly comes into sharp focus, or an extraordinary thing we might never see again. The end result is the same- it changes us, at least for a while. May you find yourself humbled by something beautiful today.