Day 85: Nacho Night

"I found a melty piece!!"

Exclaimed once during Nacho Night.

And now I know what vegan cheese is like . . .

Day 84: One person's trash . . .

Apparently should STAY trash!!

" TRASH! DO NOT TAKE!! It has bugs :( "

I have mixed feelings about seeing this at the dumpsters of my apartment building.

On one hand - 

"Wow, that's SO nice of the person to leave a note!"

But on the other - 

"AHHHH, someone in my building has [bed]bugs?!"

Day 83: Happy Easter!

 

Nothing says Happy Easter like a hat parade!

You can't have Easter without springtime - and nothing says Springtime like nature!

Budding trees

Growing leaves

And Butterfly Ghosts!

With all new things that come with this time of year, it can be nice to reflect on our own lives. 

What are we ready to shed and leave behind with winter? 

What do we want to work towards and blossom with the warming weather?

Day 82: Answered Prayers

I never really knew what it meant for a prayer 'to be answered.' I think in my childhood mind I heard this and envisioned whatever it was the person was praying for to somehow just magically appear. Some people had to pray a lot longer than others to have their prayers answered. And still others never would.

To me, it seemed similar to the lottery. You buy your ticket(s) - say your prayer(s) - and hope that you'll be the winner. And if you 'won' - if your prayer was answered it would be in a big, profound, obvious(ly visible) way.

Yeah, that's never happened to me. So it's no wonder I didn't think any of my prayers were answered. Or, more importantly, I just thought prayers being answered was akin to the luck of the draw.

This is before I found coaching.

My mind up to this point had been trained to only register 'big' things, blindly overlooking the rest. 

I recall my older sister once responding to my questioning of what might be my blind-spots (in life). She said I often overlooked opportunities right in front of me. Fast forward five years later, I can clearly see that these opportunities that I overlooked right in front of me weren't 'big' enough to be picked up on my radar at the time.

It is overtime, with life and experience, that our radar and perspective changes. It is with coaching that this happens much quicker and by our choosing, rather than leaving it up to chance or fate.

So how does this relate to answered prayers? Because 'to see' is a choice. And I'm not literally talking about the cones and rods and light dynamics of eyes that make vision possible.

I'm talking about one's ability, or rather willingness, to perceive and be aware.

When I started learning about coaching and then working with my own coach, I greatly increased my awareness - across the board. Awareness of my thoughts, feelings, perspectives, beliefs, judgements.

It was with this heightened observation that I was able to understand information that, as a child, wasn't able to hit as it was intended.

You ever have the experience where someone's trying to teach you something and you're just not getting it? Then a different person comes around and teaches the exact same information, but from a slightly different angle and it all makes sense?

It's like that.

Coaching allowed me to expand my range of comprehension so things I didn't fully understand were now taking on a whole new meaning and providing substantial clarity along the way.

I was making the choice 'to see.' I was willing 'to see.' And as a result, I began 'to see' the world around me in subtle, but different ways.

An idea I've always championed is that every experience is a learning opportunity. It provides skills and information needed to navigate forward on your unique life path. 

Curious, that this strongly held belief had no association with answered prayers; at least until I was 32 years old (and almost 33 - my Jesus yr!).

Prayers are, by and large, offered up subtly; and so too, are the answers to these prayers. It takes a willing ear and open mind to fully see them. It might also require a different vocabulary, as answered prayers have many synonyms including insight, intuition, divine guidance - and heck, even coincidence!

Contrary to what childhood Sarah would have you believe, answered prayers don't instantly solve your problems or take them away. They don't grant all your wishes or magically  make your dreams come true. But they do give you the confirmation, tools & resources needed to overcome every hurdle & obstacle you come across and help you climb every ladder & mountain to the dreams of your heart.

Day 81: Wrinkles or Flawless

Young woman to her friend:

"Do you think Jesus had wrinkles?"

. . . or was he SO perfect that even his skin was flawless?"

Day 79: Wind-Proof

Friend 1: I just got some new biking gloves! They're not very warm but they're wind-proof.

Friend 2: Nice! I can't wait to see them.

 

 

 Are those . . . cleaning gloves?

Day 78: Daring Spirit

 

This is some cashew cheese "sauce" I made a while ago. I actually don't remember when I made it. I questioned if it was too old to eat, but the smell test doesn't work bc it smelled weird to begin with! So I tried it and ... it tastes better than it did before. . .

I thought you would appreciate this - and if I'm not at work tomorrow you'll know why!

A message sent to the type of co-worker you like to "wow" with your questionable food timelines. 

And earn the title of Daring Spirit for it. 😉