“Love you. Mean It.” was the title on an email that arrived in my inbox, sent by a dear friend, on a Monday morning after an especially challenging weekend. A weekend of coming to terms with uncertainty, with some doors closing and others opening. Uncertainty may especially be felt in the moment when an expectation is not met, when a goal or resolution fails, when a family member moves, or when you learn a person you care about is sick. Uncertainty may linger in your thoughts leaving you with a profound sense of being knocked off course, no matter how much you may have prepared for that exact moment.
“When our lives are knocked off course we imagine everything in them is lost but it is only the start of something new and good. As long as there is life, there is happiness. There is a great deal, a great deal still to come.” - War & Peace Mini-Series
It's the middle of February, many of us may be coming to terms with the fact that some patterns we had hoped to break, have been repeated and habits we so proudly kickstarted, are sputtering out. Let’s try to not be too hard on ourselves, because trust me that is not how change comes about. In light of this great BIG world, these are only minor failures. Examine them, so as to not make the same mistakes in the future and then LET GO. Choose instead to lean into love. Lean into the positive words you have received from others, the dreams you have written down, those things which resonate with your heart and who you know deep within that you are. Surround yourself with the people who will lift you up - who remind you of who you are, even if you have forgotten. As my friend Zian says "Who are the people you love yourself most with"?
“You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously.”
A friend texted me “steadfast and secure heart”. It’s one of my favorite mantras, I state it over and over to myself in the midst of the whirlwind that this crazy world can feel like at times. Whenever things don’t go as planned, whenever I am not as strong or as creative as I would like to be - do I go negative or do I speak to who I know I am? Examine your thoughts, what are you speaking over yourself and those who are in your life? Your words have incredible power. One of my clients recently shared with me a movie called “HappyThankYouMorePlease” the premise is the idea of telling the universe I am happy, thank you for the good stuff you have sent me and send more please. Tiffany Pratt, says when she is having a tough day she gets into her car and yells out things she is grateful for, the things that make her happy. You gotta do whatever it is that works for you (try not to hurt other people in the process).
“I know the only cure, which is to make one’s center of life inside of one’s self, not selfishly or excludingly but with a kind of unassailable serenity.” - Edith Wharton
The world is waiting for what we have to contribute. Each of us have a very unique DNA and no one but you can instill into this world what you were meant to. When life throws us off course, we must dust ourselves off, we cannot allow ourselves to stop making, dreaming and doing. Monday morning I woke up telling myself “you are brave + strong”. Today, I tell each of us to love YOU and mean it. There are already too many negative words spoken in the atmosphere, don’t let your thoughts take you out. You have something that you are meant to give to the world today.
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
brave + strong,
Esther
Ps: I'm sorry for any typos just trying to get the work out there - even if it's imperfect. Thank you to everyone who has believed in me and encouraged me to keep creating, your words mean the world. the moment an expectation is not met, when a goal or resolution fails, when a family member moves, or when you learn a person you care about is sick. Uncertainty may linger in your thoughts leaving you with a profound sense of being knocked off course, no matter how much you may have prepared for that exact moment.