The aspects of our character that we believe protect us from being hurt also prevent us from experiencing life.
We cannot simultaneously shield ourselves from pain and allow joy into our hearts.
Our hearts are either open or they are not.
In order to allow in joy, love, and connection, we also have to be vulnerable enough to let in sorrow, disappointment, and grief.
Of course, letting pain into our hearts is not the goal, but we cannot have the good without the possibility of the bad.
Optimism is a gift.
Some are born with and some must learn to create it within themselves and the world around them.
It has the power to light up our lives and the world at large.
But, optimism is easily tainted, lost, or stolen.
This world can prove to be a challenging place to maintain an optimistic outlook and demeanor.
It can be a cold, cruel place and there are many reasons not to be optimistic.
Still, regardless of what happens to us or around us, we must try to remain or become optimistic.
Without hope for a better life, a better world, and a better future ahead of us, not much else matters.
For this reason, not only should we seek deep within ourselves for a reason to be optimistic, but we should also seek the ways and means to foster optimism in others.
We owe it to ourselves, to those around us, and to those who will come after us to create a world that is filled with hope, opportunity, and good will.
We owe it to ourselves, to those around us, and to those who will come after us to find a reason to smile and to make others smile.
It is possible to try to be successful at the wrong thing.
Not every path is meant for us to walk down.
Not every obstacle is meant to be cleared or overcome along the way.
Some paths are actually dead ends and some obstacles are really signs telling us to go a different way.
When nothing we try in the direction we are headed feels right, when none of our efforts, struggles, or progress make us happy, or when every step forward is a battle or a fight, perhaps we are headed in the wrong direction.
It helps to look forward at those who have gone before us to see if they are where we want to be.
If they are not, perhaps it is best for us to not follow in their footsteps.
If they do not like where they are, what makes us think it will be different when we get there?
I have been writing a blog post a day, every single day without fail (as far as I can recall), for over a year now.
Before that, I was writing a blog post a day, nearly every single day, for quite a while longer.
I enjoy it.
It’s good for me and I hope that it is good for other people as well.
My posts are mostly ‘notes to self’ that I share publicly in case someone else needs to read what I needed to write.
But, I need to give myself a break.
I need a day off – we all do.
I need to rest my mind for a little while each week and focus outwardly on some of the aspects of life that I neglect while living too much in my head.
For this reason, I have decided to take Sunday as a day of rest – at least with regards to my writings – and just relax a bit.
Life is busy.
It goes by quickly.
And, quite frankly, while I do enjoy the ritualistic discipline of writing every day, I don’t want this blog to feel like work (it doesn’t and I would like to keep it that way).
Truth be told, one of the main reasons for my writing is to leave a sort of breadcrumb trail of ideas and principles to live by in case I am not around someday (none of us is promised tomorrow), but I have recently come to realize that if the act of writing interferes with my direct and personal attention to her now, I have missed the point.
So, this will be my last Sunday blog post for the foreseeable future.
I’ll be back on Monday.
For now, I am going to read my daughter some stories and tuck her into bed.
P.S. I realize that it is somewhat arrogant to assume that anyone will notice that there is one less blog post in the world each week, but if even one person reads my writing and finds some kind of value in it, I feel obligated to let them (you) know that I have not simply disappeared. I am here. You are not alone. I am just taking a bit more time each week to do put into action some of the things that I put into writing.
Our fears are usually not as real in person as they are in our imaginations.
That is why we should do our best to meet them, get to know them, and make friends with them.
Meditations on God 