1). Remove the headphones.
2). Pause.
3). Look at what’s in-between your starting and finishing lines.
4). Do more with less.
5). Ask more and better questions.
6). Close your inbox.
7). Put your phone in a drawer.
8). Fast from non essentials.
9). Pray for awareness.
10).
(Whatever you gather from #’s 1-9 will allow you to fill in #10)
Embrace the known and equally embrace the unknown.
The standard plan is to act as if one of these isn’t there: play dumb with truth and principles or deny that change is on the horizon.
However, when we are present with how things truly are, all things that could be then become possible.
Something worked yesterday, something different works today, and something else will work tomorrow.
Today, we rejoice in commas.
In the end the worthy goal isn’t to one day blow out your candle in some form of case closed, definite conclusion.
Rather, our hope lies in these little lights that we all have to let shine and in their capability to light the way for another or reignite one’s wick that has gone dim.
Collectively, we can all help each other to see a little bit better and get us on the other side of another comma.
Flames are contagious.
Building Trust.
Earning Attention.
Creating Art.
Having Patience.
Doing The Work.
Few things hurt like we thought they would.
The speech you were dreading to give. The infamous flu shot. The 15 year mortgage. Pausing for breakfast. And maybe the most avoided of all, vulnerability.
It’s those things we didn’t see coming in our peripheral that bear the most pain.
Awareness, we need you.
Ashton.Gustafson 