Standing in Gratitude

"Celebrate all that is good and blessed about your life, realizing that gratitude is a powerful remedy." - Caroline Myss

Shoreline Park, Santa Barbara

Shoreline Park, Santa Barbara

I was privileged over the weekend to be included in a workshop called The Daring Way, based on the work of Dr. Brene Brown. Brown has written a number of books, among them Daring Greatly, The Gifts of Imperfection, and The Power of Vulnerability. She also has given two very powerful TED talks on shame and vulnerability, which prompted me to think deeply about how those two emotional states affect my life.

The workshop was facilitated by Kathryn Downing and her husband, Gerry Flake, who spent several years working with Brown to become certified to teach the course. It was an amazing experience, and I will reflect more in this space on the things I learned in coming weeks and months. The primary take-away for me was that we can choose to live authentically and be vulnerable. The more you can show up and be vulnerable, the less shame you'll feel and the more authentic your life will become. It's a way of living wholeheartedly, and that's what I intend to do.

So, I'm grateful for the time I got to spend with Kathryn and Gerry and the nine others who participated. I'm grateful, too, for my life, and for all of you who are so important to me. (And you know who you are.)

If there's anything I have learned over the past few years, it is that we get to choose what our lives will look like. We can create the life we want. And in the creating we find love, hope, peace, and abundance in all things.

May this day find you in a state of joy and gratitude - for your life, and all the people in it.