Notice It, Don't Define It

This evening I went for a run along roads near my house. As I was heading back, this scene quite literally stopped me in my tracks. I was mesmerized by the beauty of the landscape and reflected on how grateful I am to live in such a beautiful place.

As I continued on my trek, I felt inspired to share this photo and reflection with you, with the hopes of encouraging you to pause and soak in the scenery in front of you at any given moment. There is beauty to be found everywhere. The choice is whether we decide to notice it or if we allow distractions to cause us to miss it.

But my thoughts didn’t stop there, because I quickly became mindful of the risk in sharing this photo. And in fact the risk is part of why I went for a run this evening in the first place. You see, today I was wrestling with the ugly side of social media. You know the side I mean - the side that reduces our value to the number of “likes” on a post or that gauges our success by the measure of someone else’s life or achievements. I was wrestling with finding the balance of appreciating that we live in a virtual world that grants us access to connect with others all over the world who we likely never would have otherwise had the opportunity to meet, and resisting the ugly pull that the virtual world creates which so easily leads us down a path of discontentment, comparison, and perpetually feeling less than those we see on the screen.

And so it’s from those thoughts that I invite you to appreciate the beauty of the photo without allowing yourself to define beauty by it. Do not give heed to the temptation of thinking, “That’s beautiful. Where I live doesn’t look like that, so where I live isn’t beautiful.” Appreciate the beauty, but don’t use it as the measuring rod of beauty. This goes well beyond a landscape. The same is true of anything you see in someone else’s life. Appreciate the beauty of someone else’s life without concluding that their life dictates what is beautiful, making yours less than. Appreciate someone else’s achievement without concluding that they are the definition of success, and you are less than. Appreciate someone else’s season of life without concluding that happiness is only found in being where they are in life. Beauty is everywhere. In every landscape, in every achievement, in every season of life. Beauty is in your life. Look for the beauty. Appreciate and celebrate it, in your life as well in the lives of others. But do not conclude that someone else's life is the definition of beauty, success, or happiness. Be present to your life in this moment and allow it to stop you in your tracks, in awe of the beauty right in front of you. Discontentment and comparison melt away when you’re caught up in being grateful for what you have!

Learning how to develop mindfulness and living in the present moment can feel overwhelming. Old thought habits are heard to break, and sometimes we don't know where to start to begin making the changes we long for. I am here to help! I would love to come alongside you and help you achieve positive, lasting changes in your life. Let’s connect over a cup of coffee (in person or virtually) and explore how I can best support you!