in a moment life can change.
in just a single moment, we can see things differently, understand more clearly,
we can know what we want, who we are.
we can do things differently. we can finally come to know ourselves.
we can breathe not just air, but LIFE into our lungs,
we can see incredible pain… and… we can see joy.
we can let that be okay which is okay
and
we can stand up for that which is not.
for today is the day that, above all else, we hold the greatest responsibility.
we are, today, responsible for ourselves, for kindness and love to others,
we are responsible for knowing ourselves, to being real.
it is us, you and i, who will change the world
to light it up, bring who we are, to stand tall, demand and to fight for it.
it is us, we choose consciousness or unconsciousness,
we choose to carry on disease, hatred, disorders, addiction, avoidance, hate, prejudice
just the same way we carry smiles, joyous traditions, happiness, love and care
and sometimes we realize years later
that the patterns of our history will live on.
… unless…
we see them for what they are and choose;
choose to be the one who stops it,
choose to be strong, brave, and courageous,
to stand tall against everything we once knew as true,
and challenge it.
for in challenge we learn who we are, what we are, and what we are not.
in standing tall, brave and broken open we find a new way,
a way we never knew before. a way we were never taught,
that maybe we should have been,
but we don’t known what we don’t know…
and they didn’t know
but you and i,
we are here now.
we are the strong ones,
we are learning from the grace and the mistakes of others.
it is a gift we give our friends, our family, our children, our lovers.
and that is why,
it is our job, our duty to humanity, to WAKE UP!
to see what it is we are giving.
do we realize that in selling ourselves short, we kill not just our own dreams,
but the dreams of our children and generations beyond?
that when we don’t show up and shine, we dim the lights of others?
that when we live in the past, we lose every precious second of today,
and the gift of those standing with us right here and now?
that when we tell ourselves stories, we create lies that get retold,
and spread on for generations as truth?
that “our issues” become “their issues” if we don’t do the hard work and heal them?
that perfection breeds self-hatred and disconnects us from healthy relationships?
do we realize that what we dislike in others, lives within us,
and we’re blindly passing it on to the ones we love?
i don’t think we would do it if we really knew.
and now we do.
so today we stand up, broken open, scarred, and finally… real.
today our pain will hurt,
and tomorrow it will heal,
and years beyond now it will change the world!
because… we dare to see what it means to live, all of it.
and to heal it as best we know how.
and as we do, we’ll show up in our world, sometimes put together,
other times with a tear stained face wearing clothes from yesterday.
but we’re still here. we’re willing to do the hard work. and we’re willing to let others see it,
because we’re all the same. we all hurt. we all have a story. we all cry.
we all want to be loved for who we really are.
and first, it’s up to us to BE who we really are,
because as we see each other hurt, we realize it’s okay for us to hurt,
to heal, and share our stories.
and as we heal, we learn how to nurture healthy relationships, to speak up, to listen.
we learn to show up as WE are, not our parents,
not generations before them, not our hate, fears, insecurities, or games.
just us. we just get to be us.
and the more we’re us, the better off we all are.
and as we show up, this is the way we will treat our loved ones,
it is the way we will love our children,
it is the way we will honor the loves of our lives
because THIS, this is who we are, this is what is real,
this… is what we, and the world, deserves.
today delights in you. be you. tomorrow needs you…
Are they really those “pie in the sky” ideas, the fleeting thoughts, and hippie-dippy granola goodness? If I said, no would you believe me? Didn’t think so — read on.