Gratitude. Appreciation. Presence. Intention.

 
We hear these words. 

We speak these words. 

BUT, are you living these words?

We often see our “mistakes” and “failures” as problems.

As reasons why we aren’t good enough.
 

But what if every mistake held within it a gift, a blessing?

 
What if we saw our mistakes not as flaws, not as proof of why we aren’t good enough but as part of the fabric of who we are.

What if each of your so-called-mistakes actually paved the way for a miracle to happen?
 

What if every obstacle, challenge, and difficult time no matter how painful it felt going through opened the doorway to something beautiful?

Would you still see them the same?

 
Ten years ago my life as I knew it ceased to exist. I was no longer a woman in good health. Suddenly I was a woman with chronic pain from degenerative disc disease.

There were days when the simple task of pulling on a pair of socks was impossible. And days where I couldn’t stand up straight, where my back seized up and locked at a 45-degree angle. 

On top of the physical pain, I was battling the worst case of depression I’d experienced (and I’d been clinically diagnosed a couple of times prior), PTSD from two experiences, anxiety, and an increase in my OCD symptoms.

My life as I knew it was over, I was utterly and completely miserable. And life didn’t feel worth living. 

Fast forward to now. That experience, even while I can still feel the pain, the despair, the hopelessness, and loneliness when I let my mind go there, is one I’m thankful for.

I’m thankful as fuck for it because…

It cracked me open.

It forced me to look at my life.

It led me to countless teachers and guides. 

It expanded my awareness.

It brought me home to my truth, my soul.

If you told me then that I would be grateful for my diagnosis and hearing that my back looked like it belonged to someone six decades older I would have laughed. 

Now I know better.

Now I know that we have, in this moment, the opportunity to choose to look at the mistakes, the difficulties, the problems in a new way. In a way that allows us to heal, if not physically than emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
 

We get to choose to be grateful for all that we have in our lives—the good and the bad, the ugly and the beautiful.

and

We can choose to see it ALL as good and beautiful because all of it helps shape us into who we are.

 
Without that experience, I wouldn’t be here writing this message. Feeling these words pour through me. I wouldn’t be running my own business, nor would I have my four rescued kitties who bring so much love and joy and fun into my world. Put simply, I wouldn’t be who I am.

The same is true for you.

I know you’ve been through hard times, painful times.

I know things have happened that you never thought you’d survive. 

BUT YOU DID.

You’re here.

I also know there will be challenges ahead.

There will be difficulties and painful experiences.

You will experience losses. 

And at times you’ll wonder how you’ll ever find the strength to continue on.

But you will.

Because deep down you know you have the strength.

And yet a question remains…
 

How will you move through the challenges and hard times?

 
Will you be present or will you live in avoidance?

Will you have the courage to feel your pain or will you numb yourself?
 

Will you seek out the gifts, the good, the blessings even if they seem minuscule compared to the pain? Or will you fixate on the pain and allow it to consume you?

 
Will you appreciate the opportunities within the challenges? Or curse God for making life hard?

The choice is yours. 

The choice is always yours.

Remember, you absolutely can Love Your Life and Live Your Dreams. It all begins within.