My journey so far has brought me moments of magic and some that were less than magical, but these are the ups and downs of life right? I can’t say I would be truly appreciative of what life has to offer had I not had the tall treacherous mountains to climb, for you cannot see light without the dark, hear music without the pauses or experience love without fear; life is full of duality so that you can come to appreciate the full spectrum. As I was embracing life and allowing it to shape me into the person I am today, I have had many revelations along the way and I wish to share them with you.
Never forget to embrace and show gratitude for those around you
One of the deepest lessons I have learned so far is that we are here to connect with others, the people we spend (or even don’t spend) time with should be cherished for each and every part of their being. Everyone is precious and they help guide us on our path, positive or negative they are love to our souls. Sometimes we forget to show appreciation or forget to stay present and see how truly magical our friends and family are. Put down all of your devices and be thankful for the time that you get to spend with your loved ones, for that is why we are here on earth. It isn’t to get ahead, succeed in business or to check off all those boxes on your checklist, life is about love and it is that simple, it is so simple we have somehow managed to forget.
Accept that apology that you may never have received
The worst thing you could do for yourself is to carry around toxic emotions, by holding it in you are actually bringing more toxicity to your life. For a good portion of my life I carried a heavy wound and a massive amount of baggage (like I over-packed for a trip and had to pay extra for weight allowance kind baggage) but I came to see that this wasn’t something that was done to hurt me, but was created to teach me something. I thanked that person for being strong enough to give me that lesson and sacrifice themselves so that I could gain more wisdom. The anger transmuted to a deep love that I now cherish each day and I couldn’t be more grateful for that difficult life lesson and the person that gave it to me.
Let go
The hardest part to life is to let go. Let go of your many expectations, your fabricated view of what life should be, the past and future, toxic relationships (be it partners, friends and even family) and your view of yourself. Controlling is something we all do day to day from hopes about the weather to how we want a situation to play out. But guess what? That’s the joke of life, despite what you think it’s not yours to control, it’s yours to enjoy and the less control you allow, the more you’ll actually gain. Life is a story that (place your name here) is showing you, it is not yours to write or to edit, it is yours to hear and pick out the situations you can learn from to become wiser. When you find yourself in a situation that may be difficult to let go of control, ask this – what’s the worst that could happen if it doesn’t turn out the way that I expect? Trust that whatever path you’re being presented with is for your greatest good and the wonderful thing you’re losing your grip on is for the better. And isn’t not knowing the best part? Christmas isn’t fun anymore if you unwrap the presents early – let yourself be surprised.
Let go but allow yourself to feel
A lot of the time we’re running around, keeping to our schedule with work, socializing and seeing family all the while pushing our emotions to the side, but you can’t forget to pause and check in with your own well being. When we push our emotions to the side they will wait until we acknowledge them whether it be in minutes, weeks, months or even years. Often times the emotion tends to come up when we’re not looking – the minute we let down our guard thinking all is well or when our subconscious is free to frolic through our dreams. The longer we keep pushing our emotions to the side, the more pressure that builds within causing ourselves to have a more turbulent time or it can lead us on a difficult journey to find the trauma that is buried deep down. Make time to sit with how you feel, question it, talk to it, embrace and love it and realign.
Take in each moment as if it were your last
Show appreciation for every moment you meet. How wondrous is it that you have all that you do and have seen all that you’ve seen? Stay present in the moment and be mindful of each situation.
Failure is good so take risks, leaps, and steps into the dark unknown
What’s the worst that could happen? That you’d live a life without all your passions and without knowing the thrill of experiencing that adventure you always wanted to do? Well I think that’s definitely the worst that could happen. If it doesn’t turn out for the best think about how amazing it would be to try; a win can’t come without failure and trust me, there are a tons of failures per every success. Stay passionate and dive into unknown and who knows, maybe you’ll find a part of yourself there.
Your body is a temple
Your body loves you most, it keeps you alive day in day out, so why punish it with difficult to digest food, large amounts of alcohol and a lack of sleep. Treat it as it treats you, with patience, kindness and love.
Embrace every part of your being
Those little parts of yourself that you dislike, those deserve love as well. Why out of everyone in the whole world would someone choose themselves to critic the most? We are our own biggest abuser, we allow what is done to us, what is present in our everyday and most importantly, what we choose to think. With each thought creates movement into reality, so think wisely. Every part of you is love, those dark corners will show the most love as no matter how hard you put them down, they still wait by your side to receive love because they believe the most in you. Transform, appreciate and radiate everything you are and remember perfection is boring!
Fear is an illusion
Fear is a creation of the ego to test what we’re made out of and often tries to take the driver’s seat but if you allow it space to go along for the ride with you, it can be your best friend. It’s your best guide to show you what you desire, cause if you didn’t fear losing something then would it matter at all? Allow fear to be your guide and go courageously after what you want most.
Things don’t provide worth
After going through all my belongs in my small one bedroom condo I came to realize more than 90% of what I own I didn’t use, need or even had a purpose. Most of it was a waste of money and a ton of it ended up going to the landfill, so not only did I impact my wallet, I impacted the environment with my lack of buying restraint. There’s no reason to constantly consume or even buy gifts, personally the gift of word, touch or presence is enough to fill my heart with appreciation and that’s something that can’t collect dust or be thrown away, it’s timeless.
Age is just a number
Don’t allow a silly number hold you back from what you truly want to do and become. The other day an elderly lady stopped me to ask about my tattoos and she then started to show me hers. She told me that she started getting them a year ago because it was something she always wanted but she had held back based on others telling her she was too old. Not only that, she ended up moving to the other side of the globe to experience a new adventure! Age is just a creation of the mind, don’t be sacred to go after what you want, it’s never too late.
Learn something new everyday
This world and everyone in it has so much to offer, so take in a new piece of information each day and share it with others. Your wisdom and inner being will thank you.
Vulnerability heals
Humans are inherently vulnerable especially so when it comes to emotion. Today we tend to shy away from sharing the depths of our soul to protect our hearts, but that’s doing more harm than good. Sharing our vulnerability with others helps to speed up the healing process and allows connection and understanding. In some countries when a tragedy occurs the community lines up outside of the house and one by one someone comes in to hear the story that occurred. By the end the person affected feels much lighter and at peace with the deep emotions that sprung from the situation. Sharing your vulnerability with others connects and heals.
You aren’t always right
There are so many different perspectives and views to life, let go of what you think and hear the other side, I bet you’ll learn something new.
Give back
Giving your time to others not only uplifts others, but it uplifts you. You can easily change your focus from your own problems to spreading joy within other’s lives, which in turn allows us to create purpose for ourselves, leading to more happiness.
Find passion
What gets you excited, allows you to get lost in time and get in the flow? Follow that and don’t let it drift from you, hold onto your passions no matter how busy life can get, for that is a piece of you.
Just be and allow the moment to encompass you
It’s so easy to allow each moment to pass us by so that we can move on to the next moment and the next after that, but where are we going? We think we’re going to end up in a better off place than where we are now, but here’s the secret - if we fully embrace each moment, we’ve beat the system and have no need to push to the next moment, for everything we’re looking for is right within ourselves. Plus, there is no such thing as a future, all we have is the here and now and who’s to say the next moment will go above and beyond the one we’re presently in?
Don’t settle
Don’t settle for a mediocre painstaking draining job. Don’t settle for a safe and passionless relationship. Don’t settle for friendships that drain you and don’t allow you to expand. Don’t settle for a way of life that everyone else tells you is the right way to happiness. Don’t settle to live in a place that isn’t allowing you to be your best self. Don’t ever settle because to settle means your going for the less than appealing choice and you deserve the best. Keep after what ignites your fire most!
Stop telling yourself “When I’m ready”
When will you know you’re ready? After you’ve saved up a silly amount, aligned a bit more with your authentic self or found that partner that will hold your hand into your perceived future? The fact that certain thoughts about what you want have appeared says you’re ready! Now you just need to figure out a way around all these hurdles and find courage and go for it. You are your only roadblock and as Jim Carrey says, “So many of us choose our paths in life out of fear disguised as practicality”. Don’t settle for something that doesn’t shake you to your core – you deserve the best, so believe that you can do it and go for the top no matter what!
Write
A dear friend of mine recently introduced me to creative writing and I can’t get enough if it. It allows me to venture deep within myself and view who I truly am. Thoughts that are deep within my psyche come pouring out and with each page I’m introduced to a new part of myself and I come to appreciate myself more for it. I definitely recommend you try this out, allow the words to flow, don’t think and you will find a part of yourself you have been searching for.