If Water Was Time

As a kid, you never thought about how much water was in the glass. You just drank from it. Never worried if you spilled or wasted any of it. There was always more. The supply was abundant and seemingly infinite.

I’ve never been concerned whether my glass was half full or half empty. I just wanted to know how much was in the glass. If water was time, at my age I know most of the water in the glass of my life has already been consumed. And with that awareness, I’ve become much more intentional when taking sips of time from the glass of my life.

The circle has gotten smaller, the superficial has been discarded, the drama gets left behind, creating space for depth, substance, purpose, and expression.

I’ve become extremely protective of that space.

We really never know how much is left in the glass, do we?

I don’t intend on wasting a single drop.

Photo by Paul Lichtblau on Unsplash

Reapplying The Vision Of Your Life

It was time to do something special.

For my car.

Gassing up, I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye. A car wash. The car was on the filthy side and for some reason on this random day I decided to spend a couple of bucks and clean it up a bit.

I stopped at the kiosk as I approached the entrance. There I was presented with six different car wash options ranging from the basic wash to “The Works”. I don’t recall the exact name of the option I selected, but once my credit card payment was accepted the light turned green and into the wash bay I went.

All through the washing process a large LED indicator would light up and tell me exactly where we were in the cycle. Pre-Rinse, Foam Soak, Undercarriage Wash. Even Rain-X.

I wish they made Rain-X for humans.

The repellent nature of Rain-X causes water to bead up and easily run off coated surfaces, especially windshields. And sure enough with the final rinse of the washing process the water had nothing to cling to now that the car had just been coated.

As a human, sometimes things cling to me. Things get stuck, often becoming emotional things, Continue reading “Reapplying The Vision Of Your Life” →

Guided By Your Own Light

I’m sure I knew not to shine the flashlight into my eyes. But somehow I ended up doing it anyways.

Black Friday Weekend and I find myself meandering through the aisle of Lowe’s. I wasn’t actually looking for a new flashlight, but a deal is a deal so I stopped to check them out. Apparently the brightness of light is measured in something called lumens, and having no concept of what a lumen looked like I turned the flashlight a bit too high and ended up temporarily blinding myself in the process.

Now I know what a lumen is.

The lumens grew even brighter as I adjusted the flashlight’s beam width from wide to narrow, decreasing the size of the illuminated circle while intensifying its glow.

I’ve found myself doing the same thing in my life, adjusting the width of my focus from wide to narrow, decreasing the size of my own circle while intensifying the glow on what really matters.

I guess at some point if you keep working at it, life finally gets clearer. Purpose meets intention Continue reading “Guided By Your Own Light” →

Maybe Your Non-Negotiables Actually Are?

“Watch out for the bridge…if you hit it wrong you’ll go flying over the handlebars.”

I came to trust Tom very quickly. We were riding side by side on a rather poorly marked trail through the woods and gravel fire roads of a local nature preserve, a 10 mile mountain bike trek to benefit a local charity. The bridge could have been a disaster, but I crossed over with ease.

Tom knew these woods. “I’ve been riding these trails for years”, Tom said, as often as three times a week. As this was my first time riding through the wilderness, I felt rather fortunate to find a guide to help me navigate my way to the finish line.

At a less intense moment on the course Tom mentioned recently celebrating his 76th birthday. I was silently stunned by his revelation. Seventy f’n six? His relentless energy and stamina were Continue reading “Maybe Your Non-Negotiables Actually Are?” →

The 6 Universal Truths To Accept About Your Life

You’d think something as important as life would come with an instruction manual. Buy a new toaster and you’ll learn how to toast bread in several different languages. But life? It forces you to figure it out on your own. It’s a process, a meandering non-linear journey through mountains and valleys of joy and pain just to find a base level of understanding of this thing we call life. For those courageous enough to willingly search within, we often don’t fully understand what we’ve signed up for. But it’s a journey we know we simply need to embark upon. In the darkness we often find the light.

If I were to be tasked with creating an instruction manual for life, I’d include the following six foundational ideals I’ve learned the hard way. The hard way, forged in the fires of my own skepticism, doubt, denial, blame, resistance, and fear.

And finally, acceptance.

Perhaps my trials will save you some trials of your own.

YOU MATTER

At times life gets us to a point where we can question our own value. Our own worth. We can often feel unheard and unseen even by those closest to us, creating an emotionally dangerous space perpetuating the questioning of the significance of our existence.

In the ever-distracted world we all share, our focus is seldom placed upon reminding ourself of of our own significance. And how often are we reminded by others? But in this intentional universe, ever purposefully in its creation, the fact that you and I are here is evidence that we matter, even if we perhaps aren’t quite sure why. There are no spare parts in this intentional universe. It simply doesn’t work that way.

Yes, you matter.

YOU’RE NOT BROKEN AND YOU NEVER WERE

A lot has happened to you since the day you were born. Some of those things have greatly impacted your own sense of self. Of who you are. Of what you think is possible for you.

Humans, including some well-meaning humans, in their attempt to love you and keep you safe, often transplant their own fears and limitations and insecurities into the fertile grounds of a young children’s Continue reading “The 6 Universal Truths To Accept About Your Life” →

Life Lessons From A Convenience Store Breakfast Sandwich

I could tell she wanted me by the way she silently spoke to me. Or, maybe it was I doing the wanting? Her presence alone would often draw me in, the heat from the warming table intensifying as I extended my hand closer and closer.

Breakfast. Convenience store breakfast. The She? A bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast croissant, 420 calories full of everything I’ve repeatedly told myself I no longer was going to eat. She, unfortunately, knows me by name. The sandwiches are strategically placed so that my walk from the beverage station to the register takes me right by them every morning. It’s a highly effective merchandising strategy.

What I end up carrying to the register tells me a great deal about myself in that moment.

When I’m feeling drained, frustrated, or annoyed, I’m much more likely to leave the store with a sandwich in hand. Those moments when I’m off purpose, when I’ve sorta lost my way, are the moments when I’ll revert to older habits which feel comfortably familiar, even if I know logically that they aren’t aligned with who it is I tell myself I desire to be. I know better, yet I do it anyway.

Conversely, in those moments when I’m on purpose, aligned with the vision of who it is I wish to grow into, the comfortably familiar old habits become anything but comfortable.

Sorry, breakfast sandwich.

Not today.

I’ve not ever been good at will power. The me trying to be stronger than me battle has never proven to Continue reading “Life Lessons From A Convenience Store Breakfast Sandwich” →

Unmute Yourself

8 billion people in this world, but you are the only one who can do this.

Creation is always intentional. It doesn’t dabble in random. All that has been created has a divine purpose within it, and that purpose was intended to be nurtured and fully expressed. That purpose is a voice, our own voice, and we are the only one who can bring it to the world.

If we chose to.

Sometimes we chose not to.

Sometimes we may feel our voice is unimportant, insignificant. We question our worth and even our worthiness of having been given anything of importance to offer the world, especially if others may have somehow planted any seeds of doubt within us which may have taken root. So we play small, and when we do we silence a voice only we are qualified to express.

Our own.

Your voice? It takes the form of the unique collection of talent, gifts, and abilities only you have been Continue reading “Unmute Yourself” →

An Unexpected Source Of Clarity

Mention their names and you’d swear that they wouldn’t be good together. Polar opposites, most would agree. Yet, it’s that very polarity which can make them important partners.

For most of my life I’ve sought a level of clarity, of trying to understand who I am and what I am here to do with this one life I’ve been given. This inner journey has taken me in many different direction, each path directly or indirectly leading me closer to the clarity I’ve been seeking.

On this long and meandering quest I’ve learned a great deal about life and about myself. Paradoxically one of the key components on my path to clarity has been the introduction of doubt.

Doubt. As in uncertainty. As in compassionately questioning what it is I’ve been willing to accept about myself and what’s possible for me. My beliefs shape my identity, and my identity shapes how it is I allow my life to unfold.

What if what I believe about myself isn’t really true?

What if it actually is?

By introducing doubt into the equation of who it is I tell myself I am – or am not – I create the space for an inner dialog where a Continue reading “An Unexpected Source Of Clarity” →

Alcohol, Red Meat, and the Clarity of Purpose

Alcohol, cookies, and red meat.

And we can’t forget about the swearing.

At various points in my life I’ve given each of them up for the 40 days of Lent. I was brought up believing Lent was about giving up stuff I liked to make the God I was taught to fear happy. Eventually I saw into the significance of what spiritual discipline was all about, but I never saw the correlation between my diet and vocabulary and my spiritual salvation. But that’s just me.

As a spiritual meanderer, I’ve often struggled with some of life’s bigger questions. None bigger than trying to figure out what God wants me to do Continue reading “Alcohol, Red Meat, and the Clarity of Purpose” →

How I Lost 50 Pounds on the “Beer, Pizza & Donut Diet”

“Absolutely amazing results!”

“And it will work for you, too!”

I’ve discovered an eating program that allows you to eat absolutely anything you want to eat and still lose weight. In fact, not only can you eat anything you want to eat, you can eat as much as you want to eat and still shed pounds.

How liberating…walking through the never-ending aisles of my local grocery mega-mart free to throw anything I want into the basket. Or sitting in my favorite restaurant free to choose anything I want off the menu.

Continue reading “How I Lost 50 Pounds on the “Beer, Pizza & Donut Diet”” →

Peter Mis LivingHalfFull.com

Lessons From A Life Unfolding

Tag: purpose