Once something becomes a way of being for us, it is really easy to forget where we were before. This can cause a lack of appreciation for where we are now and how much we have evolved in this lifetime.
Not remembering where you came from can steal from you the joy of gratitude.
This process of spiritual, emotional, physical, etc. growth can be and feel very grueling.
At times, it can feel very slow, as though you are barely inching along our path.
Perhaps it feels as though you are having to knock down walls with hard decisions or boldly using your voice when, in the past, you have only recoiled from confrontation.
Maybe these walls are a lack of communication between you and your partner.
Maybe these walls represent relationships that are no longer in your best interest.
You have finally called some of your power back or are standing in your power enough, that you now have the boldness to say “NO!”
“No” to the abuse or misaligned relationship or situation that you have just been going along with for so long.
That's A LOT.
While sometimes remembering can be painful, it can also be worth looking back in order to celebrate where you are now and how much more you are embodying the powerful soul you are!
Yes, we know that looking back can cause us to live in the past.
Surely, we have all fallen into that looping trap.
Looking back here is just for the purpose of gratitude.
It is not to dwell, get stuck there or lament, “Oh, I should have done this. What if I had done that? I wish I had or this had happened.”
We are not getting stuck because our purpose for this occasional remembering has a specific intention.
We're just glancing back to gain perspective as to where we are presently in this continuing cycle. In doing this, we gain our bearings as active participants in this beautiful spiral of evolution.
This actually helps invoke gratitude for how much we've grown and moved into closer alignment with our true hearts and the vision of our souls.
As we evolve, isn't it easy to just keep barreling forward in an attempt to create “more, bigger, higher” versions of ourselves?
There's nothing wrong with that.
It is keeping up the momentum, the forward-moving energy, as long as you're in flow.
As long as you are not pushing your way to the next thing.
At the same time, barreling forward in that way can lead to burnout for several reasons.
1. the amount of energy you're putting into it that likely involves more resistance than flow and it must be gauged closely.
2. in this barreling forward, we are more likely to forget all the things our hearts went through. Just because this is our way of being now, let us not forget how brave our hearts were to go from where we were yesterday, last week, a few months or 10 years ago, to where and how we are now.
This is our new way of being and it feels more aligned, lighter—more spacious.
Can you create a few minutes to feel gratitude for yourself and anything else you are thankful for?
As things come to mind, jot them down if you are able, into a gratitude journal.
This is a practice that can change your whole way of being and thinking.
Each morning before you get going with your day, maybe even before you put your feet on the ground or as you’re enjoying your cup of coffee or tea, write down five things for which you're grateful.
Most of us are aware of the power of gratitude.
The REAL power of transformation comes when you take it a couple of steps further.
#1- You have your 5 things, people, etc. you are grateful for that day.
Now you’re going to ask yourself “Why am I grateful for this person, opportunity or thing?”
Once you jot that down, or process through that briefly, the final step is to:
#2- feel that gratitude. Maybe even close your eyes, if you feel comfortable doing so, putting your hand on your heart.
The WHY behind it is helpful in expanding that feeling of gratitude.
The taking a moment to FEEL this gratitude is what actually anchors it in and allows the transformation to begin within you and your life.
For this week, at least, I challenge you to allow one of those five things on your list to be a way that you used to think, or operate which held you in a space that felt unsettling, not quite right somewhere within.
On your gratitude list, include one way of being or doing that was not aligned with your soul, which you have now stepped out of or have become aware of.
Becoming aware or conscious of this is a HUGE thing to celebrate as that is one of the first steps to getting you where your heart and soul WANT to be and are here on this earth to be!
You recognizing that the old way of being or relationship, etc. was not helping in the becoming the highest version of yourself is EXCITING stuff!
Allow yourself to FEEL that shift in awareness, that expansion in your very being….maybe your heart even feels a little lighter as you sit with this.
The current situation that actually sparked this message is this:
right now I'm out walking and my children both have friends at our house, spending the night.
One friend is a vegan so has special dietary needs.
My smoothies in the a.m. are vegan, so hopefully that will do.
I don't know when the kids are waking up or if they'll be awake when I get home.
If they are, they'll either have to wait for breakfast if they’re hoping I’ll whip something up or make something themselves.
Believe it or not, me allowing myself to take a walk while we have company in the house is a HUGE step for me!
My husband brought all the kids home around 11 o'clock as they were watching fireworks after spending the day at Kings Island amusement park.
I had showered and was reading in bed.
I didn't get up to do the “Oh my goodness, does everybody have everything that they need?”
…all of the overdoing that I have done in the past because I wanted everything to be “perfect” for everybody.
I still had those thoughts.
I “should” do that.
Of course, I checked to make sure they had places to sleep and that they weren't hungry, but that's where I left it.
I didn't feel a need to go beyond that.
And though the thoughts arose in my mind, I did not feel moved to act on them and it wasn't because I was tired and exhausted.
It was because I have evolved out of that particular pattern where I'm overdoing, trying to make everything perfect for everyone else.
Loving myself enough to allow myself a nature walk over making the “perfect” breakfast at just the “right” time is worth celebrating.
Me not jumping up and running around to OVER tend to everyone and everything as soon as they came home is HUGE in my world, and once again, worth celebrating.
It FEELS like freedom.
It has made my heart lighter to enjoy a walk this morning.
A few years ago, I wouldn't have allowed myself to go on a walk because I would have wanted to be there for breakfast prep as soon as the kids got up- “ what do you need?” That sort of thing.
My soul is on a different path.
Now, I’ll admit I am going to go home and make sure my children have what they need.
The difference here is a subtle shift in energy.
I listened to my heart that wanted to go on a walk to commune with nature and move my body.
If I end up making their breakfast, it’ll be because I want to and from overflow, not sucking the last drop of life out of an already drained body, mind and spirit.
I also know that my children can make their own breakfast and that everything doesn't have to be perfect. I don’t have to live captive to the clock and the timing of everything doesn't have to be so proactive….anticipating all the “what ifs.
That is living in lack and honestly, fear at an interesting level. More on that maybe another day.
I can just respond rather than initiate.
For those of you familiar with Human Design, this might make sense.
We are all uniquely designed to operate in flow and with ease.
For me specifically, this means responding to what is before me according to my sacral authority instead of initiating things.
I've initiated things my entire life and it has caused me to burn a lot of energy in places that my soul never even really wanted to be—that my heart was not in.
Guess what that led to? Burnout, resentment & a state of almost constant frustration.
So my encouraging words to you today are this:
it does not serve you to live in the past, to beat yourself up over what could have been, what you think you “should” have done.
At the same time, I encourage you not to forget the journey your soul has been on and where it came from.
Whether it was five minutes ago, a decision you made differently last week or as far back as you want to go, it’s all worth celebrating!
Every step of your soul’s journey is worthy of gratitude and that means YOU, my friend, are as well.