This week in a Video I made for the GHC community, I challenged you to take time to PAY ATTENTION to what you noticed that struck a chord in the core of who you are. (say that 5 times fast)
Well, I do try to practice what I preach…so this morning I sat in one of my favorite thinking spots and asked myself I noticed about what had happened in my week.
It was quite a week:
- I had another birthday! I’ll leave you to guess which one!!!
- I’m getting ready for the TRACING HOPE Pilot Group and I am really excited about the potential for the women who come join me at my kitchen table.
- I am wrestling with yet another autoimmune issue- my third- which I was told 13 years ago would probably happen. But…now it is a bit unnerving.
As I pondered in my ‘thinking chair’ today, I was suddenly struck by the views of the two trees outside my windows.
The is tree out my front windows was struck by lightening a year or more ago. It never recovered. This spring it has been losing one branch after another in all the wind storms we’ve been having. It will be coming down soon. We are sad to see it go because of the shade it had provided for our west windows in the late afternoon and evening.
And then I turned an looked over my shoulder out of the other windows at our ‘swing’ tree. This tree has given so much pleasure. When we moved in 23 years ago next week, Ren hung a swing for the girls and we’ve had one there ever since. Then in 2013 (the year the girls both got married), our good friend Charlie and friends, built the bench around it. I often spend time under shade pondering my day.
I immediately saw the comparisons speaking into my own journey.
- There are times life is full of ‘death’- and we wonder if there will ever be life again flowing in our veins. Sometimes things not only seem hopeless, but in many ways they are. Where is hope when life gets this way?But often life is good and things just continue to grow as they should. Oh there are scars, but you don’t notice them so much as you engage your life with others and enjoy the process. You don’t need hope so much because life is ‘green’ all around you.
- Perspective often depends on which window we look out of.I can be consumed with the ‘losses’ I feel this week. I can focus on the shortness of life I have ahead, or the issues with my health and get lost in the decay. I hope I have enough strength to survive. Sometimes that is all the hope we have.
But sometimes it is a choice.
I can choose to look at it differently and see the opportunities that my age, my health, my journey allow me. I can live to the fullest with hope thriving and influencing my world.
Today I choose to be more like the ‘swing’ tree. Not just functional, but fun. Not just for shade, but for reflection.
I choose to see hope!
I choose to embrace life- good and bad, happy or sad, healthy or working hard to be.
Which window are you looking out of?
How is it impacting your next steps?
I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment below or email me at kathy@greenhopecoaching.com.
PS. We may be talking about things like this during our TRACING HOPE Pilot Group beginning May 3 for 5 weeks. Want to know more, check the link.