The Journey Inward

I’ve come to a place in my life where I no longer label my emotions as “positive” or “negative”. I allow and welcome all my feelings, and believe they deliver important information to me. I do my best to sit with them and not push them down or rush through them.

Having said that, I believe HOPE is the emotion I feel most often. I have hope that my life is unfolding as it is meant to and I am exactly where I should be in it. In this way, I can let go of control and trying to manage outcomes.

I have hope that I put the time, energy, intentionality, and love into raising my girls so that we will continue to have a relationship that evolves. I hope they will continue to look inward to follow their own paths.

I have hope every day when I walk into my classroom that I will make a difference in the lives of the children before me. I have hope that they will develop a lifelong love of learning and curiosity that will benefit them long after they leave me. I have hope that they know I care about them.

I have hope for this world. I hope that through thoughtfulness, reflection, conversation, empathy, and a desire to understand one another that we can conquer the devisiveness that has marked humanity through the ages.

I also have hope for these younger generations who seem to have so much more tolerance, acceptance, and individualism. I have hope for their boundaries and their unwillingness to continue to participate in a structure that marginalizes so many for the benefit of so few.

When I have HOPE, everything else just falls in place and I can handle what comes my way.