ACCEPTANCE AND GRATITUDE

There is a park by my home with a big beautiful lake. It’s called Peace Valley. It is my sanctuary.  I go there regularly to remember who I am. There are several entrances into the lake area but each time I go I make it a point to enter through what I refer to as “Gods front door”.  As soon as you turn the corner the glistening of the lake rises up to meet you and surrounds you with peace. In that moment my entire world shifts from being part of the story of life to “simply being”.  It is here that I am at peace with all that I have been over the past 55 years. There is no judgement, no shame, just acceptance and gratitude.

Acceptance for the teenage girl who was trying to learn how to navigate life without directions and had no idea who she was
Gratitude for her resilience

Acceptance for the young woman in her 20’s who was looking for a dream and landed in a nightmare
Gratitude for the children that were born as a result
 
Acceptance for the woman in her 30’s who had no roadmap for raising two children while living in a trauma response that led to being controlled by her emotions instead of the peaceful guidance of her mind
Gratitude for the life lessons that brought me out of the darkness and into awakening
 
Acceptance for the woman in her 40’s who kept putting one foot in front of the other, found peace, and decided to begin again
Gratitude for all the love that came into my life and helped me heal
 
Acceptance for the woman in her fifties sitting in a classroom learning the art of helping others who may travel the same path and are in desperate need of the roadmap I now have
Gratitude for the woman in the cat shoes sitting across the room who taught me how to be a student again
 
Acceptance that there is so much more living to do and yet again I have no roadmap
Gratitude for being fearless on the journey

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