MILESTONE NUMBER TWO

     What a wonderful week of big events! Today, my children, Sienna and Nick, begin their college career at the University of Virginia. We will drive them down and drop them off, but I refuse to leave until I have helped them make their beds. It seems symbolic to me, to do this small act, to lovingly tuck sheets and spread covers and fluff pillows. I want to make sure before I say goodbye that they have a place to crawl into, or flop onto, where they can retreat and restore and rejuvenate; where they can snooze... or sit and read... or pull the covers up over their heads; where they can snuggle.
     I commend them both on their maturity and their evolution to this point, and I launch them into the free world as capable and responsible young adults with lots of wisdom and lots of naiveté. May their journey be blessed, and their initial college weeks be full of adventure and positive experience!

I release my children with love!

MILESTONE

     We anticipate something for months, for weeks, sometimes longer, and it seems miles and miles away, but eventually the day arrives... and then it passes, and we are beyond it before we have even had a chance to catch our breath. I want to pause, on this morning, and recognize a milestone in my life.... before it is gone like the wind.
     I am launching myself as a motivational speaker tonight. I have been up in front of people for years, and tried to be motivating in all kinds of ways, but this is the first time that it's official. By grace, I have created a venue, and a program, and a small audience. It's something I've long felt called to do, and I am appropriately nervous in an excited kind of way to be here on this day at long last. I am prepared, such as I can be, and relaxed, as much as that's possible.
     No doubt, there will be surprises. There always are in life. But no matter what happens and how things may turn out, I am grateful for the opportunity, and grateful for the follow-through, and grateful for the willingness to be right here on the cusp of this newness.

I am living my dream.

 

 

Join me if you are local and want to come!

Stress-Free Living: Part One is from 7pm-8:30pm

@ Brown's Chapel, 11300 Baron Cameron Ave, 

Reston, VA 20190 

$30 Admission

 

Check out http://www.nathaliewherrman.com/ for more information.



GATHERING

      Everyday is a good day for gathering my wits and my calm about me, for focusing inward and grounding myself with good food and positive thoughts, but today may be especially so, in anticipation of some big happenings coming my way before the week is through. I find it necessary to retreat a bit and be a little extra thoughtful knowing that emotional events are on the horizon and barreling towards me.
     I want to meet them with poise and quiet courage, and in order to do so, I must stop the busyness of living for a while and gather my inner strength.

I make time for solitude and silence today.

ADVENTURE

     Sometimes I wish I were less driven, that I could be content to enjoy my days without the desire to strive for more. But I am an adventurer and I like to see how far I can go. It's amazing what a bit of self discipline and one-foot-in-front-of-the-other towards a goal can accomplish. 
     Life's possibilities are unchartered territory and I am compelled to explore them. The views and discoveries are exciting and wonderful. So although there are times when I weary of traveling, the truth is that exploration and adventure are what I do.

I am an explorer of possibilities.

TANGLED UP IN FEAR

     I can get tangled up in fear like a fly in a spider web. I feel afraid every which way that I look- afraid of success and afraid of failure, afraid to be noticed and afraid I won't be noticed, afraid of being too good, and afraid of not being good enough. And the accumulation of such oppositional fears is a mess of sticky tangles.
   But the game of "what if" is a desperate way of trying for control that I don't, ultimately, have. So if I want peace and freedom, then I have to remind myself as many times as it takes that I am what I am, and what will be will be, and I can trust myself to always do the best I can. Anything beyond that is a trapping web and I will end up getting stuck.

When I overcomplicate the most basic realities of my life, I suffer with fear, but I have a choice in this. If I keep things simple, I am serene.

THE SPIRAL OF LIFE

     Some environments, people, foods, etc suit us better than others, and that's as it should be. Our inclinations teach us about ourselves, and they have a way of changing over time, as we change. Feeling uncomfortable with something that once pleased us, or someone, demonstrates our growth. And hopefully we grow towards better health and not away from it.
     Life is not stagnant. It is always evolving like a spiral. The thing to consider is whether we are spiraling up or down or out of control, and be willing to make different choices if it's not heading in the direction we want to go.

As I become healthier, I am attracted to healthier things.

THE POWER OF INTENTION

     When my decisions are dictated by a sense of righteous entitlement, I am asking for a negative experience.The universe does not reward petulance, but grace. So if I want positive outcomes and satisfaction, I must make sure my intention is not overblown and grandiose; that it is rooted in love and curiosity instead of demand.

My attitude and intention determine the result.