When your heart speaks…

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age. ~Sophia Loren

Facing a new birthday affects everyone in different ways. Some worry about the gray hairs they’ve gained. Some notice the wrinkles and new spots in their skin. For most, it is a reminder of what’s gone? Personally, it makes me think of the countdown of special moments I have left with the elders around me.  Either way, counting our days brings reflections of the coulda, woulda, shoulda’s in our lives. The house I could have purchased. The relationship I should have worked on. The job I would have had if… It’s in moments like this that I like to seek perspective. Perspective helps me appreciate what I have, who I am and what I have at that moment in life. There is no perfect life. I have friends with much less than what I have, and they are living with inspiring joy. I also have friends with much more than me that constantly complain and grouch. Don’t get me wrong, I am aware it happens the other way around too, which shows that it’s not about accomplishments or goals achieved, it’s about attitude. The difference is about growth. Those who constantly look for growth (spiritually, professionally, emotionally, physically and personally) seem to have a deeper appreciation for life and for every day living.

At times I forget what’s important. That’s when positive habits pay off. But mostly being surrounded by positive and supportive friends that remind me of what is important. Exploring nature fills you with energy. The years lived teaches you to be selective. I like to say that your life is like a river whose water should constantly flow. Sometimes it will move faster than others but it should always be moving. If it ever becomes motionless it becomes a pond or a reservoir where others take water, but it hardly gets refueled. Surround yourself with the kind of people who will allow water to flow and won’t become rocks that create a pond. People that will help you grow and improve. And remember that when that feeling in your heart comes to remind you of the coulda, shoulda, woulda’s, perhaps it is your heart reminding you of how much more you have in you to show the world. A life’s reminder of the growth you still must go through.

Another decade, another year, other possibilities!! Let’s embrace them.