1/18/22
Every day, I try to position myself and the alterable aspects of my life in the direction of growth.
I’ll try not to echo every self-help guru out there, but I truly have found that it’s a mindset, an attitude, an orientation – that its presence is most inclined towards environments that usher it in consistently.
And when a growth mindset walks hand-in-hand with a bedrock of gratitude, everything changes.
They ebb and flow in a mimic of the vital system of our breath – breathing in recognition and thankfulness for all that I have, for all that I am, for all that exists outside of me and my control. Breathing out my thoughtsdreamsdesires for all that has yet to enter my grasp, for all that I could be, for all that is to come outside of me and my control.
There are many people in this world who are totally okay with the way that things are in this present moment. Many others hover their hearts and minds too willingly in the past, tightly grip nostalgia in a stubborn refusal to believe that anything better could lie ahead. Still, others put too much of their hope in the potential of the future and lose sight of here-and-now, are unable to accept any good out of the hands of the past. And I will not minimize or denigrate anyone predisposed towards any of these perspectives.
Because each of them has its failing, its emphasis at the expense of an equal-value consideration. I lose myself in my daydreams about the future – so I’ll narrow my focus. “Here-and-now. Leah, what is here? Where are you now? What brought you to this place? To this moment?”
That is to say, my position in the direction of growth doesn’t always point me towards the future. Growth often requires my reflection – not so as I will rewrite the past but to remind myself where I have been and to honor this former self. Yes, she has more to come, but she did the best she could with what she had. More often than not, growth requires my attention – requires me to answer questions that kindle connection.
Today, I hope that you encounter gratitude and growth. That you breathe in an overwhelm of thankfulness for the small things (the kind barista at your favorite coffee shop, the chilly winter air that will make way for the heat of summer before we know it) and the large (the home you woke up in, the food that will quieten your belly around lunchtime). That you cultivate an awareness of your predispositions and that you prioritize balance – that you offer yourself something different. Within difference lies a new thing. A new you.
I’m really glad that we get to live this life alongside one another.
Lightly,
Leah
Leah Kepley, M.Ed. 