Good morning!
Are you one of those people who have had the same profile picture and cover photo on your Facebook page for a long time? I get so antsy about those pictures because there are new memories, feelings, thoughts and events every day~ so I like to update them often. Yesterday, I updated my cover photo to this 
after stumbling upon it while searching for something else entirely. Don’t you love when that happens? Anyway, I secretly wish the photo were in vibrant colors because I have this preconceived, erroneous notion that color is “happy” while black & white photos are a little more “serious”…but that’s coming from a non-artistic vantage point so forgive my ignorance.
Anyway, I kind of love this photo. To me, she’s finally okay with “letting go” and (here’s the key!) NOT with bitterness or a feeling of defeat. She’s letting go because it’s simply time.
No one knows when the right time is for us but us.
It’s important to clarify that I’m not talking about anything specific here, either. NO, this is about letting go so that I can welcome all things NEW. I spoke to a childhood friend the other day, for instance, who was in ICU for a month with heart issues. I had no idea this had happened but what was clear is that this person is embracing all things NEW. He now gets the value of life in a whole NEW way and we’ve made plans to have dinner because, in his words, “life is short”. Indeed, it is.
Once my heart caught up with my head (and, by the way, why does that take so much time?), I realized what I want the second half of my life to look like and that doesn’t mean I’m cleaning house on relationships and replacing people. It’s so much bigger than that! It’s taking an inventory of what I have in my life now and making them new. I want deeper, more meaningful friendships and that doesn’t just happen. It’s a mutual investment thing that just naturally eliminates the superficial relationships or encourages them to step it up and enter into something really new and far more satisfying. Are you with me so far?
It’s looking at those things that make us feel alive and asking ourselves why we aren’t doing those things more often! For me, that’s writing. Lo and behold, God put a few people in my path that have encouraged me to do what I love to do and it may well provide an income source.
It’s giving someone a hand who needs the extra help and watching a friendship develop as a result.
It’s sharing a vision with another new friend and developing new ways to invest in people while encouraging them to invest in themselves and others.
It’s realizing that I’ve spent a lot of time not investing in what makes me tick. Instead, I’ve invested in what makes someone else tick and that’s never time wasted BUT we have to make sure we’re not simply handing someone our energy and effort on a silver platter and leaving none for ourselves. That’s unhealthy and it may be time to grieve that old and step into something new. Maybe that means you draw the line in the sand and they begin to fuel your energy or maybe they aren’t equipped to do that and the relationship falls to the wayside. Either way, you let go of the “old” way and step into the “new”.
We get this ONE spirit body and we have to take care of it~ mind, body and soul.
What FEEDS you? What part of your day is the best part? Here are mine in no particular order….
- Chatting with my kids~ who are 29 and 25 ~ every day. I call them, they call me~ whatever. Just hearing about their day and what’s on their mind is a bright spot in my routine.
- Playing with my dogs. One is a gigantic fan of Frisbee and we play a minimum of twice a day. She loses her mind as soon as I walk toward the back yard. One just wants to be awkward and stare at me while I rub his legs and belly and try not to hit a tender, arthritic area. One just wants to be as close as possible to me when I’m sitting down.
- Writing. It’s the fuel. Whether it’s journaling after reading the Bible or journaling when I’m frustrated, it’s that release like a teapot has when the water is boiling.
- Girlfriends. Okay, this one is new. I’ve always had them but I received and didn’t invest as I should have. They extended grace and are still here with me; closer than ever.
- Church. Not the building~ the people. I want to be there and I want to build relationships with the people there because they share my faith and they make me a better version of myself.
I’ve spoken to multiple people this week who have said things like “You sound like you’re in a good place” or “You seem so much happier than the last time I spoke to you”…. and they’re right. What the enemy meant for harm, God has already used for good. I’ll share more of that in due time but the point of this blog is to encourage you to find what stirs your passion. Identify it and protect it. Protect it and feed it. It is unbelievable what will happen when we unlock the door to our passion and step through the threshold.
Be blessed~
Amy