One of the biggest personal and professional lessons I’ve learned running a nonprofit and creating a TV/Web show (stay tuned) is to enjoy the yellow light. I used to freak out when things got slow. In a society that covets being busy and doing more, consuming more, it’s hard not to jump in the fast lane and hit the accelerator when life seems like it’s plodding along.
A friend and fellow soul-jah posted this amazing meme on Facebook recently and I thought when I finally learned this seminal life lesson, I became less frantic, less of a worry-wart and more aware. Aware of what was going right. Aware that it’s OK to pause in life. Aware that I’m on the right track.
This quote inspired me to reflect on each of the different seasons of life and realize the value in each.
You see, life is amazing: Why? Because you’re breathing. You were born. You’re unique and you’re the only person experiencing what you’re going through here and now. You choose which lens to put on: one that lets in more sun or one that blocks out the goodness. For goodness sake, don’t choose the latter!
Life is awful: Every awful thing that happens in my life, I think, what the heck?! God, why? Why did you lay me off from a high-paying job during a down economy? Why did I lose my dad and aunt to cancer? Why did both of my grandmothers pass away? Why did all four of them die within 13 months? Why did my rib pop out of my sternum. Gross, I know. Sorry for oversharing… ☺
Life is amazing: Then life gets amazing again. Like scattered dots, life’s experiences can be connected when you learn what these experiences are trying to teach you — leading you to your truest, highest-possible potential. All the awful, aforementioned things that I’ve experienced led me to my life’s work, Go Inspire Go, to find everyday heroes and tell their authentic stories, so you can find the hero in you to help.
Life is ordinary and mundane: When I travel for work, reporting on everyday heroes or just for vacation, I yearn for routine. Going to my CrossFit box and seeing the usuals while working out my body, sweating, getting stronger. Buying groceries at the corner store or my early Saturday walks to the waterfront to the farmers’ market and having dinner with loved ones. This happens most of the time — so much more than ups and downs — so enjoy it. My friend and spiritual sister Terrie Crowley told me when things are quiet, it’s God letting you rest. So rest and say, “Thank you.”
Life is breathtakingly beautiful: It’s so easy to “be busy” and “addicted” to the highs in life. But when things fall apart, as they do for all human beings, you learn the most and feel the most. If I could only hold a mirror up to everyone I meet and say you matter, you gem, you will see and realize that you are beautiful. The sun that rises is beautiful. Your interactions with loved ones are beautiful. The confluence of blessings that have come together to make you and your life is beautiful. So just be… and enjoy.
Try this exercise out and see how breathtakingly beautiful life is unfolding through your lens.
Onward and upward,
Toan