My dear (mostly Facebook but also recognizable in
public) friend, Chris Ferguson, compared blogging to screaming on a street
corner. It’s the perfect metaphor for blogging. Throwing something out there are
hoping it sticks with someone. Anyone really. It got me thinking about my little
blog. This space started as a place that I wanted to use to collect stories for
Lita. Something to show her when she gets older. Another kid and a few posts
later, I categorize myself as a half-ass mommy blogger who mostly uses
Instagram/Facebook to showcase my collection of thoughts and stories, my version
of screaming on the street corner.
So what WOULD I scream from a street corner? What
ideas or notions do I want to send into the world and hope “stick” to those
around me?
First, I live my life believing that I am worthy of
love and belonging (my homegirl Brene Brown taught me this. It is a fundamental
idea I live by and also a position I mother and wife [those are verbs now-it’s
fine] from). I believe you are worthy of love and belonging too.
Second, I believe everyone deserves grace. Lots and
lots of grace. As human beings we’re constantly running the rat race. Running
(read: trampling) over one another, trying to get to the top of the heap. It’s
all a little ridiculous really. People need grace. They need to know that
wherever they are in life is OK.
Thirdly, forgiveness or just frickin letting it go.
This certainly hasn’t come easy to me and it will continue to be a struggle
throughout my entire life, I’m certain of it. I sat down with the rockstar
Pastor from Awaken Community Church
a couple years ago. I sat down with him to tell him how much I was
struggling with still being angry with someone who wronged me several years ago.
I hated this person and held so much resentment for how they were continuing on
with their life never to even be tripped up it seemed. And guess what Rockstar
Pastor told me? He told me plain and simple- you may hate him but he is not your
burden to deal with. Leave that burden to God (non-Christians, don’t lose me
here, simply swap out for what you believe in. More and more I find myself
swapping God out with Universe).
Mic drop, folks.
It’s simply not my issue to deal with how this
person continues to live his life. I can’t tell you what a relief it was to hear
that this person was simply not my burden. It seems like such a simple concept
but we’re all guilty of getting lost in the resentment, hate, bitterness of
those who’ve wronged us. Forgiveness might not be the right word for this. I
don’t believe I forgave this individual (and that’s OK, grace remember?).
Rather, I choose not to overwhelm or burnden myself with thinking about it. It
takes practice but through enough self care and talking yourself through it you
can get here. This would be a lot to shout from a street corner. So how do I
wrap it up in a pretty little bow?
Friends. You are worthy of love and belonging. You
deserve grace from yourself and those around you. The people who deserve to be
in your life will give you grace. And finally, release the burden you’ve been
carrying. The person who wronged you, they are not your burden. Leave it to
whatever powers you believe in. Practice this and it will get easier. These
three thing, while relatively simple in theory, have changed the way I mother,
wife, friend, colleague,daughter. They’ve helped me learn to roll with the
punches a bit more and not take life too seriously because spoiler alert, we’ve
only got one life to live and it’s pretty damn short.
Xoxo Casey
Instagram: @caseyspeaker
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