Happy Summer! I hope you are having a fun time doing whatever makes you happiest!
This summer I’ve been learning to find joy in a new life in North Carolina, the state I was born and grew up in, married, transferred school and moved to Washington State at 19 years old. (Because of course I knew everything there was to know about life at 19!) I haven’t lived anywhere close to the East Coast since.
North Carolina is a place that’s familiar in deepest, early memories, yet foreign to me in many ways. (It’s hilarious when I’m called a yankee!) It has been a gift reconnecting with my very first friends and yet difficult to once again, start over with everything new…six addresses in seven months. Imagine my confusion at the gas pump trying to remember my zip code!
It’s a highly unlikely journey that has brought me here.
- It’s a story full of dreams, trust, hope, survival of five hurricanes, both natural and human.
- It’s a journey of profound trauma, both emotional and physical.
- It’s a journey that has often brought me to my knees, begging for renewed hope and divine guidance for a plan.
- It’s a journey that brought me deep love and compassion from devoted friends as well as “chance” encounters with new ones.
When our sense of “belonging” is vacant, it can feel like a free fall. Gratefully, I was offered a soft, safe and loving place to land. I’m now belonging.
After delivering a recent keynote on resiliency at a conference for leaders at Kaiser Health, a woman walked up to the stage, quickly handed me a note and walked away. She said nothing, but her teary eyes spoke directly to my soul. It was one of the most humbling and grateful moments in my life.
Although I nodded in appreciation and probably mumbled something, she was gone. I never saw her the rest of the conference.
The impact her note had on me was exactly what I needed, when I needed it. Her kind words bathed my soul in warmth, and enveloped my heart with affirmation of my life purpose, which has taken a hellacious beating.
I have found this to be true…when I allow myself to be vulnerable in sharing with others, I am wide open to receiving an abundance of love from others.
Yes, it’s a risk, but one I’m willing to take. Again.
YOU are the reason for somebody today. Somebody is needing to hear what you have to say and hear your story of resiliency. Leave a positive lasting impression on somebody. You never know the significance of a chance moment. YOU ARE THE REASON!