Just Say "Yes"

One of my yoga instructors told me one day that I "needed to start saying YES to everything" and that it would "change my life". While I haven't taken his advice to the extreme, meaning I don't say yet to everything, it has made me stop to think about my decisions. I stop and ask myself why am I saying yes, no, or not now.

This past weekend I spend a wonderful afternoon with some friends at their home on the lake. This day I said YES to doing two things I hadn't even occurred to me to do this weekend. I went tubing for the first time in 20 years and I went on a jet ski for the first time ever. During both of these activities I dropped the masks I'd been wearing and was truly myself. I let myself just be and truly enjoyed the experience. I did't worry about what others would think of my decisions or my actions. Actually I was really in my element in/on the water (I think there must be something me being a Pieces!).

In this instance saying YES reminded me of parts of myself I had forgotten or pushed away because it was not something "we did" or it was something only "other people did." I was reminded that to be your authentic self is to feel alive and free. That is how I felt as I sped along the water this weekend. I am committed to spending more time in/on the water because I want to feel alive and free more often!

God created us to be alive and free in body, mind and spirit. When do you feel most authentic or alive? What makes you feel alive? Go and do it-you won't regret it!

Friday Photographs-Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and

wonderfully made!"

Psalm 139:14

No matter what flaws we see in ourselves or how broken we might feel we can find hope in the truth that God created us and LOVES us unconditionally. With that knowledge we can be assured that we are worthy of love and belonging. We are all indeed beautiful! 

Living in the Shadows

When we look at a shadow we are seeing only an outline of the actual item. Depending on how the light is cast the shadow of an item can be very skewed and very different from the what the item actually looks like.   When we look only at a shadow we only see what is projected. We don't see the actual or true item.  

Most of us live most of our lives projecting and living in a shadow of our authentic self. As I stated in a previous post I believe our authentic or true self the "self" God intended and created us to be. It is the unwounded, unhurt, and innocent self.  As we live life we become wounded, broken, and afraid. As children we learn to protect ourselves from negative experiences. We build walls, we create masks, and we just tend to forget our authentic self. We forget who God created us to be. We forget we are worthy of love and belonging be cause we are a child of God.

I think there comes a time in our lives when we long to rediscover our authentic self. We need to begin to peel back the layers of fear, woundedness, broken, and shame that have provided the shadow image we see and project. Rediscovering our authentic self is a long and difficult process. There are many avenues, tools, and ways of self discovery. 

What are some tools and avenues you have found to be effective in discovering your authentic self?

The Connection Between Salvation & Wholeness

Several weeks ago I shared with you that I have discovered my passion, "To equip and come alongside people as they journey toward greater spiritual, emotional and physical wholeness." For me the key word in this statement of passion is wholeness. I think that all of us long for wholeness. 

Wholeness can mean different things to different people. For me at it's core wholeness is being restored to our true or authentic selves. Our authentic or true self is who God intended and created us to be. It is the unwounded, unhurt, and innocent self. It is my belief that we come into this world pure and whole. It is only when we begin to experience life that we become broken and only a shadow of our authentic self.

Living in this world means experiencing sin, brokenness, woundedness, shame, fear, and suffering. These experiences draw us away from our authentic selves and create in an "unclean heart". It is only through God's unconditional love shown in Jesus that we can be truly restored to wholeness. For me this is the essence of salvation. Salvation is not about the what happens after we die but rather salvation is about being saved from our "shadow selves" (think inauthentic selves).  Jesus' life, death and resurrection not only showed us how much God loves us but also how to love. Jesus showed us the messiness of love and that love is hard. Jesus also showed us that God's love overcomes death gives restored life to each of us. In reality wholeness is about restoring ourselves to the love that God revealed in Jesus Christ. 

The good news is that we are all on a journey toward wholeness and God has given us a vast array of tools that we can tap into to find spiritual, emotional, and physical wholeness! What are some tools you have? What types of tools would you like to learn more about?

Friday Photographs-Growth

"The first step toward growing is believing that you can."

"Really Tall" Towers

Life can sometimes feel like a tower of blocks that have come crashing down around us. In life we tend to build towers "really tall" just so we can say or feel like we have accomplished something. Then all of a sudden our "really tall" tower come crashing down around us. All we see is brokenness and chaos. Sometimes we have no idea what made it fall. Was it circumstances? Did we knock it down ourselves? Did someone else knock it down? Whatever the reason there we stand frozen with shock for a while.

I don't know about you but when I'm standing in the middle of my pile of blocks looking at the brokenness and chaos that has ensued all I see is devastation and failure. I want to run away and stick my head in a whole and never show my face again. This is especially true when I feel that it is my fault that the tower has fallen. It can feel hopeless and overwhelming.

The "children will lead them"...this past weekend I spent many hours with my two year old niece. She loves to play and build with blocks.  She loves to build "really tall" towers and she built many of them. What I witnessed as I watch her build and rebuild her "really tall" towers was her reaction to the towers crashing down.  In the beginning, each time the tower would fall I would say "uh-oh!" yet her reaction was always the same, "that's okay!" and she would just build it again. Sometimes she would even knock it down herself only to move it in the truck to rebuild it in another place. By the end of my time with her I had all but stopped saying "uh-oh" and just let her response become the norm.

My nieces reaction to "failure" is one of learning and growing not one of devastation. She does not associate failure with a negative reaction or emotion. Now don't get me wrong-failure is hard and can feel devastating. It can make us feel worthless and throw us for a loop. However, I am beginning to really understand that failure is not a symptom of unworthiness but rather part of "showing up" in life. When we are vulnerable, courageous and authentic (authentic=being who God created you to be) we are bound to fail because that how we learn and "THAT'S OKAY!"

Sunset Journey

"There is no beginning or end 

to your dreams or plans.

Life is journey from

moment to moment.

Live each moment to its fullest."

-Garth Catterall-Heart