As Lowi laid out for us on Monday we are Being Intentional this January. In other words, this month is all about Being on Purpose and Being Deliberate. I don’t know about you, but I like how that sounds. I like how that feels. What I like most about it is that it doesn’t feel like something I have to go out and find, or catch or create. It does, in fact, feel like something I can be, can embody.

As Lowi said, we spent some real time with one another in the same space at the end of 2019. We shared what we’d been reflecting on, working through, hoping for, running away from, running toward in our own lives. We’ve both experienced some seismic shifts in the last couple of years. We both have been offered opportunities to walk through our own proverbial fires. The ones that, as Glennon Doyle would say, show us if we choose to walk through them that we are in fact fire-proof.

We were made for the fire. Our melting point isn’t nearly as low as we imagine. Our discomfort and our frustration points may be low but we are made of tougher mettle than we believe. These experiences do make us more malleable if we allow. They do make us more likely to look around, within, and ask ourselves: Is this working for me anymore?

And we realized that January is meant for introspection. We must know what we have inside. We must know what needs shored up, what needs uncovered, and what needs to be embraced. We need a clean inner projector before we can shine our light as brightly out into our life as we would like.

If the lightbulb needs changed. We need to do that first. If the lens is out of focus, we best adjust it before we try to see anything clearly.

As we do this inner work and assessing it doesn’t mean we are in park on our life. We are engaged, we are paying attention to what is worth keeping and what needs to be left behind. This is the time of deliberate choices and determining what’s part of our purpose and what’s part of our past.

One thing that is coming to the forefront for me is the spirit of courage. If there is anything that I want to walk away from this year of being it’s to have been courageous. I am already doing things that have scared me, pushed me, and kindled fear within. Some of them, if I were to share, would seem silly to the bystander but they were hurdles to me. These things took courage for me and that’s what matters.

This year, I want to continue to blaze my own path. I want to shine my own light. I want to be my own person. I want to validate myself, honor myself, nourish myself and connect to myself. All the things I have said at one time or another that I want from others… this year I have the courage to give to myself. This year I stop seeking love, validation, forgiveness, acceptance, understanding, praise, affirmation, and belief in my potential from others and instead have the willingness and boldness to offer it to myself.

I am intentionally questioning my ways of being. Just the other day I walked into a clothing store and said, I need an outfit for an event and I will try on anything you suggest. Why? Because this kind of process that many women embrace and enjoy I shun because it brings feelings of discomfort so I avoid it. I have avoided it as much as possible for years.

This may seem like a little thing but it’s a step. They are all steps in the direction of our new unfolding life or the direction of our past. Which will we choose?

Glennon said we are fireproof. Here’s to courageously doing things that may singe our heels as walk.

Sunshine & Sarcasm,
Lowi & G