How conscious are you in your regular day of what you choose to do, or not do?

Conscious means to “have knowledge of something or to be aware.”

Do you even think ahead of time about what you are about to do? 

The meeting you are about to walk into? 

The person you are about to sit down at the table with? 

The family member you are about to call?

Do you initiate where you want to go, or are you more of a reactionary person?

Here’s the thing …  intentions without actions are just thoughts.

If we don’t move and are intentional to put steps towards what is important to us then we find ourselves responding to what is in front of us … and we may not like what that is.

I lived like that for a long time, and honestly, I just always felt like I was behind where I wanted to be.

I rushed from one thing to another because something had always come up that I hadn’t expected.

I felt that I wasn’t giving time to any one thing like I wanted to.

I was often just trying to do the next thing, but was never sure what that was.

I didn’t have clarity on what was most important to me so I wasn’t sure where to focus.

Then, the lid came off.  

All that I was trying to hold together and be for everyone else couldn’t be held together anymore.

Strange, but it was a blessing in disguise.

It helped me see that I was made for more.  

I have learned to see the wonder around me, the beauty in nature, and to rest in who God made me to be.

I stopped this morning and cut the peonies from my full peony bush that I usually just walk by.  I cut some full blooms and put them in a beautiful vase that sits in front of my vision board.  All things that help me to remember to be present and consciously initiate.

We were never made to rush from one thing to the next trying to keep the lids on things.

We were made for intentional purpose and to be boldly live who we were made to be.

One of my favourite quotes is from Dallas Willard …

Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.

You see when we hurry, we don’t live intentionally.  We do not consciously initiate.

When I heard that quote I realized how often in my life I hurry.  You know that feeling in your stomach when you are behind the ball and feel that there just isn’t enough time?  … probably because there isn’t!

The quote came to me at a time when I was taking time to identify and discover who I was made to be and how to live that with purpose and intention. 

I was realizing that trying to be everything to everyone and cover for others was not only ineffective, but actually dysfunctional.  

I began to see and identify that it was not what I wanted to show my kids that life should be like.

Truth be told … even if we are doing good things, but are not intentional with them and super clear on our why, then we need to ask ourselves what is it that is driving us?

I truly believe that clarity begins change.

The clarity of how our past has impacted our present.

Clarity of where we are, and where we want to go.

Clarity of our core values and if we are living in alignment with them.  You’ll know if you aren’t because you’ll feel disconnected, off balance, and always questioning if what you are doing is what you should be doing.

Once we have the clarity we can consciously initiate the way we want to show up. 

When we walk into that board room or living room we can consciously initiate our responses.

My husband has a strength of harmony, so when he enters a meeting at work instead of responding in frustration over a conflict (which could be a very natural reactionary response), he consciously initiates his “how can I help?” or “how can we make this work?” approach.  

I can choose to have an open mind and listen first, or I can choose to respond before listening.

I can choose to have expectations on how things should be, or I can choose to be present in the moment.

We get to choose to consciously initiate who we want to be, with the clarity of why and the confidence that we have everything we need to show up as our very best.

What do you want to consciously initiate today?