Beginnings

Happy Last Monday in September!

This past weekend presented many opportunities to rest and refresh. I hope you made some time to enjoy your favorite activities. Generally, we need to be intentional about reserving time for self-care, so if you couldn’t find the time, you might try adding a downtime item to your calendar. Some of us respond better with earmarked time and a prompt!  

I’ve heard a lot of chatter this week about the challenges of getting started. It’s curious how our minds work. We desperately desire to roll up our sleeves and get into our projects, careers or learning more about ourselves. However, we seldom know where to begin. The jumping-off point eludes us, and we seem to lose our way, as well as our enthusiasm while attempting to start.

Sometimes we overthink and begin to confuse ourselves, while other times, we need to establish a personal goal statement. Then we can work on smaller objectives to create an overall plan of attack. Of course, these plans are structural and subject to change, but we benefit from beginning to make space for the work.

When we’re working on establishing change, particularly those traits that we’ve identified as less than savory, some fundamental rules of engagement will help along the journey; allow me to share some of those utilizing a lovely quote I found:

I’d love to find who authored these inspirational considerations, as there’s so much wisdom here. Perhaps that will be a beginnings project for me!

As we review the different thoughts, we see the first two are the most difficult. I like tackling the tough stuff first, and maybe you will, too. Self-love is not about bravado or ego. It’s simply respecting our gifts and talents rather than diminishing their worth. Releasing emotions can be frightening; however, once we overcome the fear of what might happen, we can learn to respect the nature of our wounds and create space to understand them. That includes the joyful thoughts that some of us hide.

Calendaring time for ourselves feels awkward, but it’s necessary. We know that living beyond our means doesn’t end well, so we need to be intentional about our finances. Nurturing inner strength doesn’t come easy to most. This growth aspect necessitates identifying and cherishing our potential until we develop the internal muscles to feel confident in our power to change ~ ourselves, assist others, or tackle the world.

Stop apologizing for being you!! (I wanted to make that all caps but didn’t want to yell at you! Lol!) I believe we are each created with a specific purpose and equipped with all the tools we need to accomplish that goal. But, sometimes, through our processing, we have to uncover and access them.

The following items on the list require the mindfulness we talked about last week. We have the maximum advantage when we surround ourselves with positive people, those who either share our passions or have the ability to mentor us and embrace the promises of the moment. The cost is minimal, and the value is beyond measure.

When we think about the various aspects of beginnings, we recognize a strategy to access wellbeing. Physical, mental/emotional, spiritual, social, and intellectual, this approach covers all aspects creating balance and optimizing our inner strengths.

I appreciate this quote from Scripture:

“From your modest beginnings, the future will be bright before you.” Job 8:7 (VOICE)

Let’s consider our beginnings this week. Then, perhaps, we can explore each example of the rebuilding list and look for ways to create space for each component in our lives. The work may be challenging at times, but I believe the knowledge gained will be worth the effort!

Be Well & Be Blessed!
Lucinda