One of my favorite inspirational writers, Emily P. Freeman, post a quarterly link-up where we share what we learned during that season. I’ve seen and read these for a few years now but only participated one time. Sharing something so intimate feels overwhelming; what if I never learned anything new? What if I keep having to learn the same old things day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. For example, if you read my January 2016 edition, I discuss foundational habits.  Yep, still struggling with those! But, now I get that this is an excellent exercise for anyone who is seeking to live their one life with intention and purpose. And sharing in this space crystallizes what I have learned, making it real and refreshing my memory when I need to be reminded again and again.

So, with that in mind, I am participating this season and sharing with you wonderful souls what I learned and will probably always be learning this past spring. Here goes…

• I’m learning to trust my intuition, my gut, “the voice within, the voice of God’s spirit, the whisper of my own soul.” (Shauna Niequist in Present Over Perfect) This is something that I will have to work on for the rest of my life.
• I now know that I for me to live the life that I want to live that I must stop running from my emotions. In the book, “When Things Fall Apart” by Pema Chödrön, she discusses the necessity to sit in the “hot loneliness.”  I hate doing this! I have run from my emotions and my feelings for most of my life.  My modus operandi is when I get a whiff of a feeling that is uncomfortable, painful, or even something that is exciting or interesting, is to do one of two things: (1) push it deep into the spaces of my own heart and then pile food, preferably ice cream, on top of it or (2) get busy doing something, anything to not think about it anymore. All you have to do is see a pic of me to know which one I do the most. Ignoring my emotional life has affected everything: how much joy I experience; my honesty with my husband; my memory, or lack thereof, of the special moments in my life; and the authenticity in my writing. Learning to sit with my feelings is hard, probably the hardest thing that I will ever have to do, but now I know that I have to do it.
• Self-care is requirement; it is not an optional exercise. There is no life (literally, no life) without it.

What have you learned recently? Let’s talk about it.

enjoy life