Last week was active. I released my book into the world (updates in just a moment), welcomed new members to our community following this post on Tiny Buddha, and had the honor of hearing so many stories and insights.
Now that the activity has settled and the big projects are finished, it’s time to touch down and find the ground again.
We need more time like that, don’t we? Time to listen to our hearts, let the lessons bubble to the surface, and soak up the significance of the moment. I wanted to share my reflections with you today in case they help you reflect on your own journey.
I felt sincere and aligned with my deepest desires last week.
I’d created something that maybe wasn’t perfect but was at least honest, and I got to connect with so many lovely souls.
But even though I’d just written about finding inner peace and love, I felt the pull of external metrics of “success,” like Amazon rankings and social media shares. Those are so tempting to hold on to. They’re tangible and easy to compare, and it seems like everyone’s talking about them, but they don’t tell us anything about the real growth that’s happening.
That’s why through this entire process and especially now, I’m learning to look first at growth and how all of that activity feels.
The day I opened the notebook that would later become a book book, my goal was simply to follow what excited me. I wanted to rediscover the feeling of resonance and allow for authentic expansion, not the pressure I’d grown so used to living under. I gave myself permission to be softer and less productive. I allowed myself to go inward before going forward.
When it became clear that a book was growing in my hands, I wanted to let it bloom into whatever it was meant to become. So, I kept writing freely until the book revealed itself to me.
This whole experience has been liberating and empowering, and I’m so excited for whatever comes next.
But I have to be honest with you. Just as a rainbow needs both sunlight and the rain, it was only through the whole of the journey, the joys and the fears, the thrills and the pains, that it could feel this way.
It was because I waded through the insecurities that asked just who do you think you are that writing There, I Might Find Peace felt empowering. And it was only through encouraging the parts of me that weren’t sure they had what it takes that the ideas floating around my head found their physical form.
I feel more closely aligned with myself because I faced my own judgments and still chose love.
I feel stronger because I climbed the mountain of false starts and failed attempts that came first.
And I feel lighter now because I have no choice but to drop some weights if I want to keep going.
When I reflect on where I am, if I notice I’m too much into the details and too outside of myself, and if I feel that familiar, unfocused tightening that fear carries with it, I’m practicing pulling myself back with these questions, Yes, but did I grow? and How did it feel? Because our journey is not about crossing the finish line with a gold medal in hand but making the small decisions every day to walk our path in mindful steps, listening to our own voice, respecting our own energy, and trusting that those steps will carry us to where we’re meant to be.
Wherever you’re standing now, whether you’re looking behind you or peeking ahead, whether you’re behind or ahead, give yourself the freedom to measure your progress in growth, set the goals that honor your deepest desires, and climb the mountains that take you toward your highest self.
And when you tell the story of your travels, speak well of the highs and the lows.
The whole of the journey is kind of the whole point.
(And now, book updates. Drumroll, please…)
There, I Might Find Peace is available in digital and paperback formats on Amazon. Find out more about the book here. Or go straight to Amazon!
Please, please, go grab yourself a copy, and once you’ve read it, leave a review. More downloads and more reviews help more people just like you discover books. And you never know who needs to find it.
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