
Each day is a new opportunity to do things differently, to try new things, to write my own story as I wish it to unfold. I will do my best to honor that gift and not take it for granted. -gws

Each day is a new opportunity to do things differently, to try new things, to write my own story as I wish it to unfold. I will do my best to honor that gift and not take it for granted. -gws

When you honor the no, you know you can trust the yes means yes. -gws

I don't have to fill a void because no one else steps up. I can choose to step up, if I wish, but I am not obligated. -gws

I will be the eye of the storm. Calm. Focused. Quiet. Peaceful. -gws

I was tasked to write out my feelings regarding someone who was one of the biggest adversarial people in my whole life. The exercise designed to help me relinquish and release my long held rage and resentment. I wrote seven and a half pages. I ran out of words. But I didn't run out of rage. I have carried molten, violent, unfulfilled rage toward this person for at least a decade. This person is dead, and yet I still hold a belly full of rage. Raw, ragged, bitter, acidic rage. It consumes such resources with its existence. I have carried this wicked ember for so long that despite the fact that it no longer serves a purpose, I don't know how to release it or extinguish it. It is a companion I have grown too used to despite despising that it exists at all. I also cannot help but wonder how life will feel without the burn I've become so used to. I feel it sitting like a silent scream, desperate to wrack my body in ragged convulsions of hot tears and roaring sobs. I feel that if I were to relinquish my hold on it, the rage would wring me dry, and maybe consume me outright. It feels like once the bottle is uncorked and the demon released, its force, alone, will use me up in a blinding, all-encompassing, soul-fire blaze. Will I survive it? What will be left of me? What lies beneath it? What will take the place it leaves empty and desolate? Will I be the same when it's done with me? gws

I wipe the small, petty, vindictive venom from your lips Sanitize the air polluted by them I will clip your fangs if I have to This is not the legacy we will pass on Your wounds Claw marks and ripped skin Will not mar youthful innocence And loving hearts They will continue to know a loving embrace And soft kisses for as long as possible Before the ugliness and cruelty of the world Changes them forever You will not speed them toward that end -gws

I am whole I have the capacity for earnest joy I am full of gratitude and divine grace I am free to breathe easy -gws

Knocked off my feet Tumbled and tossed Disoriented Lost Struggling Fighting Failing Unable to know up from down Gasping and desperate Threatened Panicked Scared *relax* *float* *you can ALWAYS float* I still myself Relax Trust Know And begin to ascend Freed from the struggle that was threatening me And distracting me from remembering my power Surrendering to acceptance isn't giving up or in It's accepting that it's okay to let go of the fight If it allows you to care for yourself It's having faith that divinity will help you with Rest of the heavy lifting Be present Be peaceful Be silent Be gentle Be... Just Be And the rest will work itself out -gws

Given gifts of joy Being fully seated in the body Experiencing full presence Lingering moments of stillness Rooted in sense memory Reminding me how to be fully whole Fusing me to the earth and heaven In the space between breaths Leaving me in profound and All-encompassing gratitude for being alive -gws

Today I wake and remember I am enough. I strive to live honestly And with integrity as I walk in my truth Embracing all of my imperfections because I am enough. When storms rage and tempers rise I will place a hand on my heart and Breathe into my belly remembering I am enough. When I judge myself harshly When I feel like I failed myself or others I forgive myself and remember I am enough. I will end my day in gratitude for all I have experienced All I have learned from those experiences I will lay my head down at the end of the day And whisper into the dark I am enough. -gws