Simply Enough

How do the holidays make you feel? Do you aim for a Hallmark romanticized tableau, or embrace the messy, funny imperfections? A change of expectations and perspective can change the experience, embracing not just the nostalgia, but the creation of new memories too!  The holidays come from your Light within, rather than external. Let go of activities on an idealized to-do list, to experience and extend the simple, distilled  reasons for the season— peace, love, joy, faith and hope, really and actually.

Have you ever felt the pressure, or the letdown, from wanting the holidays to be perfect? But the holidays can come alive more as feelings in one’s heart, rather than outer events.   Build upon the foundation of sentiments that make a holiday real.  The universal language of gratitude is contagious and life giving! Rather than one day on the calendar, live a life of Thanks-living, thinking of specific things from boogers to moo-cows, and the family you were given and the family you’ve chosen and gained. You won’t look at things the same way when you see life through the lens of gratitude. 

Have you ever made yourself small to make someone else comfortable? Or muted your voice, prioritizing someone else’s reaction over your sense of self? Being different isnt something to be hidden! We’re all unique but not “less than”.  Rather than avoiding messy conversations, we can have the courage to be true to one’s self, and also be the one who affirms who others are, being the one to shut up and listen as another gives voice to their story.

Have you ever felt out of balance with work and life? Are you uncomfortable saying No, or only feel valuable if you say yes to everything everybody asks of you? Discern between the wins and losses of how you spend energy, filling rather than depleting your buckets.  Take a pause between the Ask and the Answer, before saying yes or no, so your mindful choice is authentic, rather than out of fear, obligation, or guilt. Let's navigate where to direct our energies, led by the compass of our values and priorities just as they are!

Have you ever felt a dream is out of reach? Or felt guilty letting go of a dream? There are differences between fate and destiny, or a wish and a dream!  Don’t squash your voice- Be wide awake and alert and willing to be all in, taking the no’s and the knocks. Then, with clarity of intention, apply the goals, apply the work, and invest in yourself! Discern when the idealized dream is actually a nightmare, and it’s ok to have a nuanced dream, or a new dream altogether!  Alignment with who you are and what your goal is, where you’re living your true self, is a dream worth pursuing!

Have you ever felt safer behind a mask, or emboldened by wearing one? We definitely have, and that’s ok! Self discovery can occur by donning masks, or by lifting them, and can affect how we show up in the world.  Masks can free and liberate, or can confine and hide, like a barrier to connection.  It all depends on how we use masks as a tool, rather than a permanent facade or shield to remain unseen.  Exploring who you are as a person might first start by donning a persona, as a means of self expression, to ultimately connect what’s on the surface to what’s authentically inside us.  

Have you ever felt like life is all work, no play?  Now more than ever, we all need a little more play.  Declare your recess time - go bananas, choose your walk up song, and grant yourself permission to play!  Play is a language, to communicate and learn, and is integral to the human experience.  With wonder, curiosity, and creativity, lean in to the opportunities to regain the joy of the sport, the work, the lesson, or the relationship!

Play is valuable, worthwhile, healthy, beneficial, and necessary… but most of all, is fun!

Have you ever felt like you didn’t know enough, or shamed for not knowing more? Have you ever made yourself small, afraid the Know-It-Alls might expose you? We know that feeling, and you’re not alone. But learning isn’t  always about having the “right” answer (as if there’s always only one).  Enjoy the expanse of learning, as opposed to the limits of knowing “for sure”! We can keep a sense of youthful wonder, by listening rather than hearing, and learning more than knowing. It’s at the leading edge of innovation, exploring what we don’t know, where we experience Life. 

Have you ever been voluntold, instead of asked?  We can recognize the moments when a decision is taken from us, and also avoid doing that to someone else.  Rather than allowing someone to think for you, invite a person to ask, and use your voice to answer! And when we ourselves think for others, with a litany of disclaimers, as a way to “protect” us from rejection, embarrassment, or disappointment, we actually limit ourselves by removing opportunity and possibility! Get the “data points” by asking, rather than nebulous assumptions.  We have a role in how people treat us, and we have the sole role in how we treat others.  And we can ask ourselves what we want, so we own our choice, rather than being complicit letting someone think for us.  Asking can be a moment of connection and understanding, in relation to others and with one’s self.  

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Have you ever felt like you were constantly chasing "more"? Yet, we are more than our possessions, acquisitions, accumulations, and titles, and Enough is actually a choice we control. Looking at what we have rather than what we're missing frees us for living and experiencing, instead of numbing and buffering.  We can be mindful and sensual, to experience the fireworks in our lives. Living fulfilled rather than filling a void; addition by subtraction, rather than distraction.