If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would that morsel of wisdom be?
I would say, “Don’t worry child. Worry is waste. Make yourself useful and serve others and your heart’s desire. Your story will lead you to the highest, truest, best self.”
When doing motivational speaking, I always tell my audiences, my students, mentees and all the youth in my life: “Don’t worry.” But I’m human. While I’ve become a lot better at not worrying, I sometimes stray. When it happens now, instead of beating myself up for it, I acknowledge it and say bye-bye. Then, like the sunset, it vanishes into darkness. Before I know it, the sun, which beckons hope in my spirit, moves me on to the next moment.
I’ll admit, I’ve been acting too much like a grown-up lately. Darn it. Why is it when we were kids, we were so in the flow? We were more open, accepting and loving. Then as we grew older, we thought we needed to have more <insert title, job, money, etc.>, be more and compete with others? As if there isn’t enough in the world to share with everybody?
I’d be remiss not to acknowledge there is a lot of darkness and worry swirling around after this crazy presidential race. I let worry about the outcome get the best of me and couldn’t sleep well when the election results were announced. I also let my growing to-do list and thoughts about the things and circumstances that would make me happier stir up feelings of anxiety.
I needed a reality check.
I always tell people, “Be careful what you think — your thoughts become your words. Be careful what you say, because it becomes your reality.” To combat the negative emotions, I’ve been telling myself I need to wind down, let go and be a kid again. You know, do the things I love more like sing, dance (in public), be in nature, spend time with loved ones and experience the world through kids’ eyes.
As they say, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Just this week, like clockwork, these little ones are showing me the way:
1. The first is a twofer: My nephew Drew and his dog Riley saying, “I love you.” #ADORABLE much? No matter what language you speak, this is sure to lift your spirits — LOVE!
2. I spent the morning with my best friend Keely celebrating our nephew Avery’s 8th birthday by dancing in the street, singing Lion King songs and laughing out loud a lot, especially as we asked Siri, “Do fish fart?” (In case you’re wondering, apparently, they do!) Here’s a peek at our morning dance to celebrate life:
3. My goddaughter Caris is never afraid of dancing like nobody is watching, even at a Safeway bakery. Work those hips, baby boo.
Some of my favorite beings to be around are children, elders and animals. They seem closer to the spirit world — so pure, innocent, joyful. As a result, my main resolution in 2017 is to spend more time with these beings who remind me just to be… and of course, to dance, sing randomly and let my inner child out to play more.
Leave it to kids to bring out the kid inside me and remind me, DON’T WORRY. It’s going to be OK.
::Engage::
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Onward,
Toan