What would you add to the list? #grateful #mentalhealth #joy #happiness

There are these moments that you keep close to the chest that you'll never forget for as long as you live.⁠ ⁠ Moments that changed you in some way. So much so that you could never go back to who you were before them. ⁠ ⁠ For me, those moments have always brought warmth. Even though situations and people change as time goes on, those moments stand still in time. ⁠ ⁠ Working through resentment is a tricky thing. There's the part of you that wants to be right about it all and prove a point. It only breeds more anger and bitterness. ⁠ ⁠ And then there's that ancient part of you - I guess you would call that the soul - that understands that you can honor both: that things have changed and the moment you still treasure. ⁠ ⁠ When that happens...all the resentment and negativity just flows away.⁠ ⁠ All your left with is love for someone, even though things couldn't be more different now. ⁠ ⁠ Maybe that's what opens doors are...⁠ ⁠ Opportunities for people to walk through - as different human beings - but ones that have impacted you in some important way. ⁠ ⁠ It's okay for things to change. ⁠ ⁠ They are going to change despite your best efforts. ⁠ ⁠ You can only go with how things are and ride that current. ⁠ ⁠ But I hope you leave doors open along the way. Even if things didn't end well. Because people are capable of extraordinary things. ⁠ ⁠ And maybe, just maybe, they will walk through that door again.⁠ ⁠ Wouldn't that be something. ⁠ ⁠ #relationships #healing #empathy #compassion #quotes #writing #poetry #dating #love #advice #growth

Something for the soul to marinate on. #quotes #healing #change #writing #power

One day you're going to arrive at a door in your life. This isn't just any regular door. It's a door that holds a very specific set of rules and can only be opened when those rules are followed. ⁠ This door leads you to the next stage of your life. You might arrive at that door and spend some time trying to open it but it remains locked. Some people turn away. Some try to go around it. And then there's the few who sit by it and learn everything they can about it. Each door that we come across is made differently. They are beautiful in their own way. No two doors are the same and you can't use the exact same knowledge to open the new one. They also hold completely different aspects of your story and take you on a path that you are meant to travel.⁠ You can decide to ignore the door if you wish, but it won't take you to where you need to be. It will take you off course for as long as you wish and you'll experience many different things. But it will never be what you've know deep down in your soul that you were supposed to do. So eventually, if we allow ourselves, we arrive back at the foot of the door reflecting on what it took for us to arrive at this point in time. Sitting. Thinking. Remembering. Questioning.⁠ Then, when you've finally committed to moving forward in a different way, the door swings open and you're exposed to an entirely new world. But that door only opens when you've made the decision with every ounce of your being. That's when you're granted access. The key to every door is faith. Without it, you can't go where you need to. You spin your wheels and reject your path. But with it, anything is possible. All doors open. All paths can be realized. All journeys taken. Don't ever stop believing.

The right things will be there. Sometimes, that takes getting out of your own way and trusting the path that you are on. You might not be able to see everything unfolding, but in time, the picture will become clear. It can be hard to have faith after going through so many disappointments. But if you can hold on tight to what you believe and know why you're doing something, the gifts will come.

You are so much more. #mentalhealth #selfhelp #quotes #compassion

it’s a process. there are seasons to all of this. so be patient with yourself. it will unfold as it’s supposed to 🌺

I wrote this when I was going through the thick of it. When everything feels like it's swirling around you and you can't find your footing, it's really easy to get swept downstream in it all. ⁠ ⁠ Be right here. Even if it's in the mud. ⁠ ⁠ Because if there wasn't any mud, there couldn't be a lotus. ⁠ ⁠ You don't have to escape what's happening. That's how you get swept away. Sit in it. Root yourself deep into the ground and just breathe. ⁠ ⁠ All of it will pass. And for the things that need your input and attention, if you can find your breath in it all you'll also have your wisdom. ⁠ ⁠ You're not lost.⁠ ⁠ You're right here.⁠ ⁠ You've always been right here. ⁠ ⁠ It doesn't have to be your favorite place to be. You don't have to pretend that you like what's happening if you're really going through it. ⁠ ⁠ But you do need...you...to be here. ⁠ ⁠ Fully. ⁠ ⁠ Willing to face it. ⁠ ⁠ Willing to work through it. ⁠ ⁠ Willing to accept your role in all of it.⁠ ⁠ And when you can do that, you'll find your way through. ⁠ ⁠ So be right here. ⁠ ⁠ Here. Here. Here.⁠ Here. Here.⁠ Here.⁠

…and when it’s time, come back. gently. softly. with a warm heart and a smile on your face

It has been an interesting few years to say the least. There have been many many challenges across the board (too many to list) and even more changes. But I want to talk about what's written above more than anything because I think that's the most important part of it all.⁠ ⁠ Acceptance is a very interesting word.⁠ ⁠ As time as gone on, I've really understood acceptance to be many different things. Ownership. Responsibility. Alignment. Mobility. There are many other words I would use alongside it.⁠ ⁠ But most of all, I've viewed acceptance as a deep embracing of things as they are. I also know what acceptance isn't. It isn't what I thought life should be.⁠ ⁠ That gap can be very difficult to traverse sometimes. There's an incredible amount of friction that's created when the mind is at war with how things actually are. It fights it in all sorts of ways and pain seems to compound.⁠ ⁠ It's even more at work when something significant happens "to you." This "shouldn't" have happened. This "should" have happened instead. Lots of whys and what if's also seem to come with it.⁠ ⁠ But the fact of the matter is...it did happen. It happened exactly the way it did. It didn't happen any other way. It happened that way. And maybe coming to that realization isn't the easiest pill to swallow. But here's what I can tell you after witnessing some of the bravest people I know truly own this...⁠ ⁠ What comes from this type of ownership is courage, bravery, responsibility, integrity, and eventually joy.⁠ ⁠ Watching someone take the most difficult situations of their life, removing all of the judgement, shame, and betrayal, applying a whole lot of understanding, love and compassion is one of the most special things I get to be a part of on the daily.⁠ ⁠ And honestly, being a part of that and helping facilitate it gives me more courage to continue to dig into my own story that I could ever imagine.⁠ ⁠ You can't change what happened. But you can choose what happens next.⁠ ⁠ I hope that gives you courage.⁠

You are not deficient. You are not lacking. You are not a piece or a part of a soul. You are not a victim. Let me repeat the last one - you are not a victim.⁠ ⁠ At one point in time you may have thought that, but not now. No longer. You have what you need. You have more than enough. You are whole. You are healing, moving forward, and taking the lead role in how the rest of the story is written.⁠ ⁠ It's easy to find yourself in the clutches of fear. If you let it settle in for too long, it will begin to crawl into all areas of your life. One day you go outside and look at the garden and see that it has been completely overrun by weeds. That's how fear works...it's consuming.⁠ ⁠ Roll up your sleeves.⁠ ⁠ If the garden is a mess, it's time to start pulling. There's no mind trick that erases habitual patterns and choices. There's no slogan that dissolves fear on contact.⁠ ⁠ There's only awareness and choices.⁠ ⁠ You first have to be able to see what are you doing. You have to be aware of it. You have to know whether or not it is helping you grow or holding you back. That's half of the battle there.⁠ ⁠ Then, you need a new way. Imagine a way of showing up in the world that serves you. Now that you've imagined it, step into it. Do it. Try it out.⁠ ⁠ This is how your entire world changes. You have to be willing to take the chance of trying something new in order to grow into who you are meant to be. There's no way around in.⁠ ⁠ The cycles will repeat themselves endlessly until you choose differently. This is where you have to realize that you have everything you need to be who you are meant to be. It's staring at you right in the mirror.⁠ ⁠ You are the source. You are the solution. You're it. ⁠

That first step can be pretty scary. Leaving what you've know behind and heading into something new? That takes so much courage. But it's also hard. There's a ton of momentum from the old ways of doing things and trying to shift that can be a challenge in of itself.⁠ ⁠ What can make or break this entire process is a sneaky idea called "perfection."⁠ ⁠ It'll convince you that there will be some point in the future that everything has lined up so nicely that you'll have no problem with starting.⁠ ⁠ So you wait and wait...and wait.⁠ ⁠ But here's what I can tell you with certainty - if you wait for the perfect moment to arrive, you'll be waiting forever.⁠ ⁠ It's never going to show up. Not because you don't deserve it or anything like that. It'll never arrive because there's no such thing.⁠ ⁠ When is it ever going to be perfect? No problems? Nothing to face? Nothing going on in the world?⁠ ⁠ It's just not a thing.⁠ ⁠ That's the sneaky part about it. The mind romanticizes perfection so much that it believes its real. It's just an endless trap that's very difficult to escape from once you're in its clutches.⁠ ⁠ You don't need to be perfect.⁠ You don't need to wait for perfect moments.⁠ You don't need to put on a show.⁠ You don't need to be flawless.⁠ You don't need any of that.⁠ ⁠ What you need to be is you. Flawed. Imperfect. Human. Blessed. Chosen.⁠ ⁠ Take that with you. Take this version of yourself on that journey that you've been seeing in your mind. Let yourself be molded by your travels. The adventure of it all is what matters.⁠ ⁠ You'll go where you need to go. It may not end up being where you thought you were going to end up, but often it's so much better.⁠ ⁠ It takes courage to let go.⁠ It takes courage to begin.⁠ It takes courage to be yourself.⁠ ⁠ Be proud of that - that you have this in you to start something and see if all the way through to the end.⁠ ⁠ That's really something.⁠