What's guiding you today?

Last week I had an epiphany of sorts. A very good friend of mine was told that her mom's biopsy came back clean. My email to her said something like, "I'm glad your day can be guided by relief!" That got me thinking. What does guide us every day? What do we allow into our psyche, or our hearts, or our beings that ultimately guides us?

I posted this deep thought on Facebook and as fate would have it, the post fell on the virtual high of the Broncos win and Tebow mania. Many of my friends were being guided by Tebow or the BRONCS! (This was absolutely appropriate!) I had a few people post about being guided by obsessive/compulsive behavior and a few by worry and one by her tummy :). That day I said I that my day started by being guided by anxiety and I was pushing for peace. (Of course, I did offer that my anxiety be turned around by some BRONCS! hype...but...)

Since that day I have been aware of what guides me. Is it jealousy, fear, anxiety and other little nuggets of despair? Or can it be hope, joy and peace that life is life?

Obviously there are days that we will have no choice but to be led by worry or anxiety and such. (What if my friend's mom's tests had come back with a different result?) But I am realizing that I have to choose what leads me. I have a tendency to let the negative take over. I get into dark places that seem impossible to get out of.

Today I am fighting with everything I have not to be guided by jealousy. I am trying to be at peace with where I am in life right now and not be overwhelmed with the "what ifs and should'ves" that plague me.

I need to choose to be guided by the fact that there is a lot to be grateful for. There are a million miracles in my life I can celebrate. I want those to guide me today.

What's guiding you today?

P.S. I chose pictures of my favorite roads that have brought me to places of peace and hope...these roads remind me to be guided by what I know to be good.

Finding beauty and hope along the way...

I have been quite reflective this week of the many roads we travel to be get where we are. Our life journey is unpredictable, amazing, sweet, tragic, seemingly unfair at times and never boring.

I have been struck with a profound amount of sadness for those who have lost loved ones too soon. I wonder why it happens. I wonder how we learn to navigate the new roads that lay before us. I wonder how we make sense of road blocks and detours we don't choose. I was reminded through my friend Kate's blog that learning to live with the questions is part of living life. Her post inspired me to reflect on the roads that have led to the places we are.

The sadness is still lingering (and maybe it will always be there) but this weekend I was reminded look at nature for surprises, to cherish the simple things, and embrace the roads we are on for what they are.

We had the chance to go to Vail and it was spectacular. It is seriously the most perfect place on Earth right now. From the weather to the golden Aspen trees, it's truly breathtaking.

Once we got there we didn't intend to hike the way we did. We didn't go on a set trail and we didn't have a plan. We just started in on the ski hill and discovered all sorts of great paths. It seemed like at every turn we were blown away with the beauty of fall in it's fullest form

I was mostly struck that there was beauty in every direction. Every now and then I would remember to look back at where we had just walked and the view had changed from when we first saw it.

These different perspectives reminded me that there are many layers to our life journey. Grief, joy, love, and change is interwoven with reality in such a way that sometimes it's surprising. The paths I have been on may not be what I have chosen and I may not be able to plan where I go. But if I can find beauty and hope along the way, I'm gonna be okay.