Courage. No regrets. Love what has been. Enjoy what is. Don't be afraid of what is to come.
Easier said than done. It's true that if I'm sad to lose what has been, it must have been great. It was. But the future can be great, too. I can't be afraid to step into it. Sure, I will miss people and places. That's ok. But it doesn't need to keep me from looking ahead.
And just because things haven't turned out the way I'd hoped doesn't mean that I'm in the wrong place or doing the wrong things. Or that good things won't come. I'm working really hard to cultivate a spirit of joy in all circumstances, hope for the future, and contentment in the now.
I'm trying to simplify, and find peace inside and outside myself.
As Steph moves away this weekend, and I look ahead to having to leave my beautiful Seattle apartment and let go of Ernest, it's easy to think about the loss of the people and places that I love. Yet, I have experienced loss of people and places before, and I survived. Even thrived. So there is no reason to think that I can't do so now. I'm reminded of these Jon Foreman lyrics:
every seed dies before it grows
breathe it in and let it go
every breath you take is not yours to own
it's not yours to hold
To become who I am meant to be, I need to keep growing. And as I gain new experiences, the old ones fade. But they don't go away. They still shape and inform who I am. And the memories are mine to keep - my souvenirs. And I truly have amazing souvenirs. "I wouldn't trade them for anything" (Switchfoot).
