Three Little Words: A Status Report
As the close of 2008 approaches, I am beginning to look back at the progression of my life as well as look forward as to what I want to accomplish in 2009. Every fiber of my being believes that the words I chose this year to guide me was one of the most positive things I have ever done for myself. In moments of stress, I have only had to take a deep breath and go back to those guiding principals: Passion, Courage and Forgiveness. Since I’ve shared so much of my life through the digital pages of All Things Girl, I wanted to close out the year by talking about these words with you here – and how the choice of these words have truly enhanced the overall quality of not only my long term plans, but the joy I find in my day to day life.
“Passion is an amazing gift to give yourself.”
The person who hired me on my current project jokingly calls me “Polly” (after the classic Porter character Pollyanna). On average, no matter how rotten my day has been, I try to start the next day fresh. This hasn’t always been the case for me. I truly believe that keeping the word “passion” in the forefront of my brain has led me to continue to love the work that I do, which in turn leads me to overall finding something joyful about each day. I guess, for me, it’s easy to start fresh each morning when I can find something in the day to be passionate about. Passion is an amazing gift to give yourself.
My other two words, if you don’t remember, are courage and forgiveness. I put these together because as I realized last December, they go hand and hand. I can say that without a doubt, both courage and forgiveness have providing their gentle guiding influences. No matter how gentle the guiding, though, I’m struggling with forgiveness of myself. It isn’t that I’ve committed heinous acts that require self-flagellation, however, I do still tend to be incredibly hard on myself while being forgiving of others – but the judging is, at least, less harsh. Maybe it’s that Pollyannaish attitude of starting fresh and finding something positive each day. Or maybe it’s because I am embracing “courage” as I deal with the challenges that life has to offer. Dealing with oneself, by the way, can be one of the most challenging relationships we have. Actually dealing with oneself instead of floating through life without purpose is certainly rewarding.
But I digress as I was thinking about the acts of courage I have performed this year. I have expanded my business, explored new business opportunities, made new friends, embraced old friends, networked with strangers, and more. Courage has been present in not only my business world, by the way, but in my personal life as well. Besides the new friends I have been blessed with, there are also some relationships that were growing stale. I even said these words to a dear man-friend of mine as I we had been discussing why I had finally reached my limits on the status of our four-year relationship: “Passion and courage are two of my words this year. It took a lot of both for me to be this honest with you (about how I feel.) I love you. But I love me more.” The guilt is still there, by the way, for daring to be that selfish, but I’ve already begun to forgive myself for allowing the relationship to get to that point. That, my friends, is truly something in the ways of finding peace.
I can say that I do get up each morning happily embrace each day. Life is about passion. Forgiveness is a good friend to have. And courage will lead you into places you never dreamed about. I haven’t yet decided what I will choose in 2009 to guide me, but I know that choosing positive guidance is truly the best way to roll, at least for me. (Your mileage may vary. Taxes not included….)
(Photo: Lorissa Shepstone)