Excerpt 2
It’s another fresh start, a new beginning, yet another chance at the game of life. What a gift. The Universe, every twenty-four hours, issues a do-over of sorts, and I sit here this morning holding my life in my hands. What am I going to do with it today?
I am the creator of my world. I am the creator of my experience. I can mold and shape, tweak and blend this day into what I want, at least in the realms of thought and feeling, and these things I use to explore and expand my world. This time and place is a most wonderful canvas. What colors will I use today? How will I frame it?
My heart and eyes are open; I am alive for a reason. There is always a choice. Will I fall into another mindless rut, or will I soar? Will I live in appreciation of the gift that is this day, or will I sleep through it again? Will I notice the caress of the afternoon breeze as it gently stirs the hair on my arms? Will I take the time to feel all that is held within the sun’s warmth or be transfixed by the grace of a passing bird? Or will I allow these things and the many others which color my experience to pass by unnoticed?
Today I vow to let myself feel my joy and my pain. I vow to use life’s frustrations and challenges to lift me and move me farther down my path, all the while carrying the knowledge they are wonderful opportunities to practice what I already know. Inherent in this, a deep knowing persists that all struggles will pass, leaving me with only the priceless gift of having grown because of their presence.
In the ongoing healing process that is life, every moment is another opportunity to reconnect with what is real, every trauma an opportunity to heal myself and my world through the act of loving with an open heart, because there is no other way to truly heal—or truly see. I reflect the life I’ve lived and the life I’ve loved, all of it. It is what I am; it is what I do; it is why I am here, and I share it with the world.
I give thanks for these lungs that breathe, this heart that beats, and the heart that loves. I give thanks for eyes that see, ears that hear, and the legs that move me through my world. I give thanks to all who have touched my life. Those who have lingered, and those who shimmered and flashed ever so brightly while streaking across my life like a shooting star, I love you all.
Today, I will see love reflected in the smile of a stranger. I will be aware of the nourishing air behind the leaves’ subtle whisper. I will bless the quenching water as it kisses the shore. I will merge with the warm light which gives rise to all; I will be the flowers’ brilliance. I will cry, I will smile, I will laugh, and I will strive to love myself and my world completely as I let myself feel all I am, was, and will ever be. Today, I will simply listen.