Last week a friend said to me, “You know Sara, it’s hard to get somewhere you just left.”

I had to sit with that for a bit. 

First, it’s not even true. It’s easy to get somewhere you just left – turn around! But I realized that he wasn’t talking about logistics, he was speaking metaphorically.

What he meant was that, very often, we’re chasing things that we already have without even realizing it. 

We’re searching for things that are already here.

We’re looking for joy while missing the simple, everyday opportunities for joy that are already all around us.

We’re craving happiness while overlooking all the things we already have to be happy about.

We’re striving for a sense of fulfillment while ignoring all the ways we already feel fulfilled.

We’re desperate to feel special while rejecting everything that’s already special about us.

And why is that?

I think it’s because we live in a world that’s obsessed with more. We want more time, more happiness, more fun, more food, more love, more stuff, more joy, more security, more meaning.

We’ve been taught – by companies who want us to buy their products – that we’re lacking in every way possible.

• We’re not thin enough.
• Not pretty enough.
• Not disciplined enough.
• Not stylish enough.
• Not organized enough.

We don’t have enough time or money or freedom or support.

And we’ve been trained to believe that the solution to all this not-enoughness lies outside of us. That if we could just get the right clothes, shoes, hair style, wallpaper, closet organizer and number on the scale that we’d finally feel the way we want to feel.

Because ultimately it’s all about how you want to feel.

We only want these things – we only want more – because we believe it will make us feel a certain way, but that’s not how this works…

How you feel is a choice. Accepting and celebrating the fact that everything you want is already here is a choice. And it’s a choice that you get to make any time you want.

In fact, that’s the only way you’ll ever get to feel the way you want to feel – by choosing to feel that way.

Nothing can make you feel happy if you don’t choose to notice the opportunities for joy that surround you every day.

Nothing can make you feel safe if you don’t choose to trust in your own strength and resilience.

Nothing can make you feel valuable if you don’t choose to see and appreciate the impact you’re having.

Nothing can make you feel good enough if you don’t choose to believe that you never need to be anything other than what you already are.

And nothing can make you feel loved unconditionally if you choose to hold onto the conditions required for loving yourself.

How about this…

Can you, just for a moment, choose to adore the soft folds and crevasses of your body that are there right now? Without judgement? Without critique?

Can you, when you’re feeling worried or anxious, choose to tap into that place of peace, calm and unwavering strength that lies within you? Can you choose to trust that you will be okay?

Can you find something beautifully delightful to rest your eyes on from where you’re sitting as you’re reading this? And can you let the delight that’s already there bring a smile to your face?

Can you choose to be fully present in this perfect moment in time that’s happening right now and feel it expand into infinity giving you all the time you need?

Can you let yourself have what you already have?

And what would your life be like if you did?

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