“You don’t even realize that some people look at your madness and see nothing but brilliance and grace,” Stephanie Bennett-Henry.  This is a reminder that our actions have impact and people are always watching.  What we do may feel clumsy and rocky and imperfect, but for someone witnessing those moves, it may be exactly what they need to find encouragement to make their moves.  Life is hardly about perfection—life is perfect as is and all we need to do is exist and allow who we are to shine.  Yes, I’ve said that a million times and I completely get that it can still feel a little cliché.  But that doesn’t make it false.  We are social creatures and we are meant to cooperate and communicate with each other, we are meant to build community and function in a way that complements our natural talents.  We are meant to see the beauty in everyone and we are meant to find our purpose and our soul group.  These are facts and it has been proven the value and power of authenticity thereby allowing authentic connection. 

What looks like a mess to us may be demonstrating the courage for someone else to take their first steps.  What frustrates us demonstrates the power of persistence to someone who feels stuck.  The steps we take with ease and the things we face may terrify others—but witnessing us do that takes away a bit of that fear and armor and gives them belief in themselves.  None of what we do is meant to be on display as THE way to do it-we have to learn to take in what serves and what makes sense to us and discard the rest.  We have to learn to be ok with differing opinions and other ways to do things and know that what makes sense for us will come—and what makes sense for others doesn’t have to be for us.  The human mind is a creative force and the more we can ignite that creativity in others, the more ideas we have to expand with. 

We can also be that sort of inspiration to ourselves.  When was the last time you thought about something you’d done or have been working on and felt proud about it?  When was the last time you faced a struggle with something you really wanted and gave yourself credit for how far you’ve come instead of being upset about where you are?  When we learn to stop and take stock of where we are and what we have done to get where we are, we will tend to see a trend of all the things we have either overcome or the things we have planned and executed, we can se the work we have done and where it has led us, and we learn some degree of appreciation for ourselves and the work we do.  Never give up on that effort.  Always remind ourselves that what we do always gets us closer to where we want to be.  And when we evaluate our current position, if we aren’t where we want to be then we are graced with the opportunity to choose again. Start a new cycle—because when we encourage ourselves to keep going, someone else will find the will to keep going as well.