Finally, I feel as though it is MY time. I remember as a little girl questioning, I think, almost everything. It must have been exhausting for my mother and everyone around me to have me ask the same questions over and over again. I would ask questions such as: "Mom, why do we have to sit up straight at church? Mom, why aren't we allowed in grandma's good living room? Mom, why are children to be seen and not heard? Mom, why do people say one thing and do another?" Get my picture. You see, I believe I was born curious. However, I was raised during a time when it was not acceptable to be "curious." Remember, children were to be seen and not heard.
I can only imagine how frustrating it must have been for me to ask questions and not get answers. I can recall how many times I brought home a report card and almost every teacher would write in the comment section, Trina is really very bright, but she would do much better if she would stop talking and start listening. In actual fact, I was listening, the teachers just didn't understand that I could listen and talk, sometimes at the same time. I heard almost everything the teachers said, and at the same time, I was asking questions that they just couldn't or wouldn't answer so I believe it was their way of silencing me. After all, I had skipped a grade and had led the class academically during my elementary years of schooling.
Fast forward 48 years and recently someone forwarded to me an audio of Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post, speaking at a conference. She believes that this is the "Golden Age of Engagement." Truly music to my ears and a sigh of contentment from my heart. Engagement means to be present, emotional involvement or a commitment. People want to engage and to be involved. People want their voices to be heard more than ever. Everything is being questioned and answers are being demanded.
Finally, I will be heard and I will ask questions and expect answers. I also want to hear what others have to say and I want to invite others to share what is on their minds, in their hearts and the feelings deep inside their guts. That's right, you know what I mean, that feeling deep down inside your gut that you NEVER talk about. Why not? Who told you you couldn't? Where did that thought come from? Is it the gut or the intuition? I tend to think it is one in the same. I have a saying that when I have a "but in my gut" I know not to move forward. There is a reason for that "but in the gut." And, now more than ever, we are being invited, during this "Golden Age of Engagement" to be present, to get involved and to commit to something bigger than ourselves. What freedom!
Freedom to write about what I love to talk about and listen to. I love sharing my story of hope with others in the hope that I can hold up my mirror of love so that they can see a glimpse and be encouraged to begin to take the steps to live in joy and happiness. I love listening to where people have been on their journeys and how they have arrived at the present. What challenges have others encountered and how did they overcome them? It is through being in relationship with others that we are given the opportunity to grow and learn more about ourselves.
It takes courage to be vulnerable and look into the mirror that someone may be holding up to you. As there are two sides to a coin or two sides to a feather, there is also two ways to look into a mirror, including the mirror that others hold up to you. And, those who push your buttons or trigger you can be your greatest teachers. They are the ones who hold up the mirror to show you that there are areas in your life that need healing and the best thing that you can do is to thank them for showing up in your life. Then, there are others who hold up their mirror of love and that is to remind you that you are love, you just need to remember. They are your reminders. Thank them and begin in that moment to live more love.
It is amazing how our lives begin to change when we can honor others on their journey and be grateful that each of us has our own unique path. There is no right or wrong on your journey but rather a knowing that it is your journey and that there is no one else on earth who has been where you have been. They may have taken a similar road, or train trip, or canoe ride or flight, but there is no one exactly like you and that is a beautiful thing.
Today, I encourage you to look around at the people that you surround yourself with and become aware of the books that you read, the TV that you watch and the internet that you are a part of as these things determine who you are. Who you are today is not who you have to be tomorrow for that is a choice that you and only you can make. Who do you want to be now and in the future? Look back to your past as that, it is what has brought you this far, however, you have the ability to re-write the story of your life so that in the future, you can look back and be pleased with the choices you have made and the person you have become. And, remember, as one person is healed, that person represents hope4healing for others.