Silence.  Solitude. Transformation.  The still, small voice inside, the voice of grace, comes out to play, learn and lead when time and space and “doing” lessens and listening and being begin.

We are built to belong. Our brains are wired for experience. If you are experiencing a trying time or coming out of one, reach out, reach up, reach over. It doesn’t matter where – just REACH.

Just as a rubber band doesn’t return to exactly its same shape after being stretched, we don’t either.  Our “shape” changes after challenging times.  Sometimes those changes are small and sometimes they are big.  Trying to fit back into our old life does not recognize nor respect our growth and the strength and courage it took to get through our pain. 

Living with intentionality requires thinking and thinking requires effort, and let’s face it, sometimes we just don’t WANT to think. 

Change and transition give us an opportunity to repack our suitcase.  To honor and remember the “me” we are leaving behind and prepare to embrace the “me” that will emerge from the experiences in our future. 

Our lives are filled with stories.  Stories of our birth.  Stories of discovery.  Stories of sorrow.  Stories of hope.  The stories we tell ourselves about our life’s journey help us make sense of the journey and build our resilience.  The stories we tell to our children about ourselves, our own childhood, our struggles, help build resilience in them as well.

To change our behavior, we must first THINK. What behavior that has gotten us where we are, and what is getting in the way of where we want to go.

Lasting change, the change that sustains over time, lives in our heart.  And to change our hearts, we must start in our heads. 

The foundation you build your life upon determines the decisions you make in your life.  The action you take from those decisions determine the direction your life takes.  Today is moving day.  Let’s go!

“You should teach your daughter to shave her armpits.”  The unsolicited advice from the woman hit me in the face.  First of all, “should” is a trigger word for me; something I am trying to expunge from my dialog both internal and external.