We are all Kenough
Hello, friends!
I looked up and suddenly half the year has gone by. This has been a strange one, somehow both the best year and most challenging one I've had in ages. I wish I knew how to think or write about anything else lately. If I could, maybe I'd tell you about dressing up for the Barbie movie with Felicia (she was Barbie, I was some kind of almost-but-not-quite Ken). Or about celebrating Felicia's fortieth birthday with one seriously great weekend. Or about this epistolary mystery I'm reading but can't seem to finish.
Instead, you get to watch my mind drawing circles around the things I've learned about myself this year.
Here we go!
It's lost to time now, but recently Felicia shared someone's Instagram story with me. I've already forgotten whose. But I remember the sentiment (though maybe not word-for-word):
Instead of worrying the worst will happen, try believing the best will happen.
Maybe it's a little treacly, but as you may have noticed, I am an exceedingly sentimental person. And I'm also the kind of person who imagines every possible negative outcome to a situation, under the guise of preparing myself for the worst. I'm way less accustomed to hoping for a positive outcome. (At least for myself. I'm pretty good at helping other people see their potential wins, I think.)
Reflecting on this year could have been an example of imagining the worst outcomes. Goodness knows that's a path I could have steered down, like an ocean liner carried into a metropolis by a vicious wave, shearing through buildings and leaving collapse and ruin in its wake.
Somehow, though, I didn't take that route. Which means, I think, that I am capable of seeing positive outcomes when looking at the hardest challenges. I didn't think I could before, and I don't know why I can now. Maybe just be love was my boot camp, preparing me for what 2023 held. If it was, I'm grateful for its simplicity and effectiveness, because every day I choose to be love. I don't always succeed, but I'm not quitting when I fail. The more I get it right, the more it'll just become who I am.
How's your year been so far?
✏️Until next time,
Jg
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