keep your breaths deep and your hopes the reaching kind.
it’s a new month. to me, a tangible fresh start.
take care today.
“if not us, then who? if not now, then when?”
i’m a sucker for ted.com. my favorite category is the “inspiring” videos (shocking, i know).
the stories of big dreams becoming reality… the perspectives shaping initiatives to promote health and wellness… the people with ambitious hearts and brilliant minds. these things are my inspiratherapy today (and often).
the quote in the title is from Kiran Bir Sethi. she is changing the education system in india with the sheer force of empowerment. take 9 minutes to experience what she’s initiating by teaching children to own the statement “i can”.
also, recognize the drive and urgency in her movement. she knows her vision and sure-as-hell is on a path towards making it a reality.
i understand that not everyone was created to lead a nation-wide initiative to change millions of children’s lives, but what, within your community, can you spark and fan until it becomes a fire that breeds positivity? we all have this ability. whether it’s in your workplace, your family, or your friend group, how are you adding to and encouraging bold and influential living?
today.
“One reason we are so harried and hurried is that we make yesterday and tomorrow our business, when all that legitimately concerns us is today.
If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete.
There is always time to do the will of God.
If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy.”
-elisabeth elliott
dependence: a personal note.
i’m the “life-long learner” type. constantly curious and inquisitive. wide-eyed with ears peeked to any new wisdom, insight, or lesson that i’ve not experienced before.
independence has held on with deep roots since my early years. i’ve admired people who appear as if they could do everything on their own if they had to, and i’ve become that type of young lady in many ways. but i’m realizing, through reading the insightful words of a friend and spending time in introspection, that a heart and mind in pursuit of independence can be stifling to my faith, my relationships, and my professional success.
independence and abundant life cannot flourish within the same individual.
i need God, friends, and family to breathe fresh perspective, encouragement, and pure love into me.
seems kind of obvious, right?
of course there is value in doing life with other people.
of course there is value in letting them hold you accountable to your dreams and goals as well as receiving their love and affirmation.
it’s a message i’ve known in my head but not through-and-through in my heart. i’m finally grasping it. and it’s freeing, let me tell you what.
(by mariann johansen ellis)
go live WITH people this weekend. tuck your phone away and enjoy face-time with someone. let them in and nurture real, raw community.
a mind was made to figure things out.
i want to keep my soul fertile for the changes, so things keep getting born in me, so things keep dying when it is time for things to die. i want to keep walking away from the person i was a moment ago, because a mind was made to figure things out, not to read the same page recurrently.
-donald miller, through painted deserts
“beware of seeing yourself through other people’s eyes. there are several dangers to this practice. first of all, it is nearly impossible to discern what others actually think of you. moreover, their views of you are variable: subject to each viewer’s spiritual, emotional, and physical condition.”
Everything will be ok in the end. If it’s not ok it’s not the end.
