Your TEMPLATE day!

So I have this book that was gifted to me....To You, Love God - by Will Bowen. It's a fantastic daily reader book. I've read a LOT of daily readers over the years and some are pretty darn good, but this one, you guys, is fantastic. I've not read ONE page that didn't speak to me in one way or another...certainly some spoke louder than others, and a couple of times I heard the pages whisper.

But this page on July 8th was hollering right up in my face...for a week. I shared it in all my yoga classes that week and the next. I thought about it every day...came back to it and chewed on it and pondered, "How do I want to show up?" The question on the page was What if this was THE day? The TEMPLATE day for all of the goodness that came to you for the rest of your life? What if the feelings you feel on this day are the same feelings you will feel every day for the rest of your life? What if how you react to a challenge or adversity today is the same way you will react forever? OMG. That is some serious shit. Really. I shared with a lot of people my energy around this idea...some folks jumped on it with me and others just looked at me sideways...some thought it was a lot of pressure for this one day. I didn't think so.

Over time, this reading has marinated in my mind...(which makes me want to write a whole new blog, that I'll get to later.) and what I want to share about it is this:

Today, in the face of challenge or adversity, I do not want to run away or make myself small, or avoid it or pretend I'm not aware. Today I want to acknowledge myself exactly how I am in this moment...and determine the best course of action for the best possible outcome for me and everyone else. Maybe there is a challenge that I don't feel ready to meet, or maybe there is the next indicated step for me to take that I am avoiding because I'm scared. Scared of the unknown....and by the way, WHY do we look at the unknown as scary instead of exciting? Why fear instead of curiosity?

I want to treat myself with the same compassion and encouragement and understanding as I would treat my best friend. So there's that.

Today, in the face of greatness and good things I want to embrace it all with a humble heart. I want to ALWAYS remember that it is ALL a gift from my creator, and that I own none of it. I want to accept with gratitude EVERY single moment of greatness and then I want to share it. Today I don't want to forget for a single second that when I share the greatness that is gifted to me it is multiplied, and I believe with everything I have that this is how we change the world. One kindness at a time. One day at a time, living our best lives, embracing our human brain and our human body (faults and all), but remembering that WE ARE THE SOUL and we are all connected. I'm going to accept my darkness and my light, and yours too. My template day is full of kindness, compassion and acceptance, prayers of gratitude, gifts of love, lessons learned, lessons to learn, tears of pain or sorrow or joy, hugs and kisses, smiles to my brothers and sisters on this crazy beautiful planet...and peace in my heart!