Matters That Matter ®

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work; you don’t give up.” – Ann Lamott (Bird By Bird)

It is so easy to get derailed.

One day it seems that I know what I want, where I’m going and how to get there. Finish that manuscript. Knock on the door that is beckoning. Make that scary phone call. Take a deep breath. Trust that voice within that ALWAYS knows what to do next. Then there are other days that, how should I put it? I don’t have a clue about… anything. Those are the days it is easier to shuffle from one task to another, re-doing the to-do list, again, making sure there are new things to check off so as to feel productive.

Clear out email – CHECK!

Pay bills – CHECK!

Eat lunch – CHECK!

Clear out more email – CHECK!

Yesterday was one of those kind of days. Today threatened to be another.

Recently a dear friend said, “I think we always know when we are bullshitting ourselves.” I don’t know about you, but that rings way-too-true.  Most of the time, maybe all of the time, if I really tune in and tell myself the truth, I know what I need to do to get where I want to be. I might not like it, but if getting “there” matters, I’d better put on my big girl boots and get a-goin’.  Whether In our work or relationships, our health or our finances, there is only one way to get from here to there. Show up and do the work. It is about plugging away, one step at a time in the right direction. What is the right direction you might ask? It is any and everything that brings you closer to your goal. That goal is the light at the end of your tunnel. Except I hate the word goal. I once heard someone refer to a goal as their “cherished outcome”. Now I love that! To cherish means to protect and care for. What if we protected and cared for our vision for our life? The people we are meant to love, work we are meant to do, projects we long to undertake.

Today, the road ahead is still shrouded in darkness, nagging fears and uncertainty rattle their familiar chains and there are very, very, very real needs that call.

Today, I am going to do my best to choose to cherish the life I’ve been called to live.  By plugging away, one step at a time, trusting that the dawn will once again dance away the darkness.