Friday Reflections

I’ve been reflecting a lot about life lately.

I think it’s partly having been in my home state of New Jersey for a few weeks, partly me entering my last year of my 20’s earlier this month, and partly me just being an analytical person. But I’ve been thinking a lot about life.

Every time I visit home, I find myself looking at the places I see and the people I’m with with fresh eyes. I think that many people who have lived far away from their families and hometowns can relate to this feeling. I also think that it’s nearly impossible to look at it with such new perspective unless you’ve been away. Everything sometimes seems exactly the same, while other times it seems like everything has changed. I even drove through my alma mater while I was there and got to reflect on my college years.

And somewhere along the way in the now many years that I’ve been gone, there’s this interesting dynamic of me feeling like I have two homes in my heart: where I’m from, and California. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and that I was brought to California to be awakened in ways that I wasn’t before. I’ve really grown and grown into my own here, and I’ve been looking inward and thinking about what’s shaped me.

I think that being independent on my own living in new areas has helped me often push out of my comfort zone and learn a lot, that being apart from my husband and loved ones has helped me to be a more loving and patient person, that being on this journey to be the healthiest, happiest me and helping others to do the same has given me confidence and satisfaction, that traveling has broadened my horizons and given me new perspective. I’m grounded by a marriage that has gotten stronger with each year. I feel a calmness that doesn’t get shaken easily, and I think that my love of hiking and yoga has helped to develop that at a spiritual level.

There’s this quote I love: “A mind that’s stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” I just want to keep learning, growing, listening, experiencing, and loving all that life has to offer.

I’ve also reflected a lot about what holds people back – why so many people don’t reach their potential and get stuck in a rut in life that they never quite recover from. It’s everywhere, and it’s sad to see people living but not really alive.

I say, find the things that make you feel alive, and do them more often. Go out on a limb, because even if you fail, at least you’re challenging yourself and doing something exciting. We can reinvent ourselves if we have the ambition to. Lack of drive, self-confidence, awareness, and all of these other factors can block you, but you always have the power to push through; you just have to figure out how to move forward and work hard to do it.

As American Buddhist Jack Kornfield says,“We as human beings have this amazing capacity to be reborn at breakfast… and say, ‘This is a new day. Who will I be?'” 

There are so many question marks in the journey of life, but I feel great in knowing now more than ever who I am, the person that I want to continue striving to be, the type of energy that I want to surround myself with and what I want out of my life.

No one’s life is perfect and I don’t have all of the answers, but I feel relaxed about all of the unknown, because I know that I’ll be grounded by those truths. It’s a great feeling. and I’m looking forward to experiencing more of this life that I’m creating and seeing what new wonderful things come my way!

No questions today, just share your thoughts!