Reality Check

If you are always trying to be normal,

You will never know how amazing you can be.

~Maya Angelou

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to offer gratitude for not being normal. Besides, who sets the standard for normal anyway? Who am I really trying to please? Whose view of ‘normal’ gets to override all of the others and be deemed as truth? What’s normal to me may not be normal to you. More often than not, that’s a positive thing. Why would we want to live in a cookie cutter world where everyone is the same? There would be a lot of beauty instantly erased from the world.

I know that I have spent much of my life attempting to be what I thought others wanted or needed me to be…who they thought I should be. It stemmed from the desire to be a "pleaser" and keep everyone else happy and comfortable. Conflict is avoided, nobody will get angry and everyone will have their needs met. Except me. It also grew from fear of being rejected for who I really am. My normal is certainly not the normal ‘normal’. For the most part, I’ve really learned to love that. There are still days where the conflict presents itself and I am offered the universal love nudge to take the awareness deeper into my heart.

For today, I’m going to celebrate and be thankful for the many ways I am uniquely me, coloring outside of the lines and breaking the rules of normal.

I am grateful for my passion for personal and spiritual growth. I love knowing that I am continually honoring my truth and seeking deeper, vulnerable connection.

I am grateful for my connection to crystals and their healing. I love wearing them, carrying them (no matter how creatively that needs to happen in the event I don’t have pockets…!), and using them in my healing practice.

I am grateful for my love of nature. I love being in nature…running, walking or simply being…no matter the time of year. I love talking to the animals I meet and to the outdoors in general. I love talking with Grandmother Moon and celebrating the relationship I have with her.

I am grateful for my openness to learning through journaling and oracle cards. I cherish my belief that there is always guidance available to me and all I have to do is ask.

I am grateful for offering my intentions of healing, guidance and gratitude through prayer, meditation and conversation. I am nourished by knowing that what I hold in my heart is sacred and heard.

I am grateful for the gift of healing that lives within me. I am blessed to walk with many beautiful souls on their own personal journeys.

I am grateful for the ability to be an open channel for healing and insight. I embrace the gift of my intuition and ability to ‘know’ what it is I need to know.

I am grateful for the healing gift of music that also lives within me. I am blessed to share this gift with my students and those who hear me play.

I’m certainly not your average duck and I am eternally grateful for that, even if there are days that I resist it. The journey continues for me, as it does for all. I am continually being nudged to go deeper, to live more fully, to love more vulnerably and to laugh more often.

Blessings to all of you this Thanksgiving. I am grateful for your presence in my life.