words of the day: be, begin, believe

To encourage and support your becoming, here are three words excerpted from my book, Words of Wisdom for Women (Barnes&Noble/Fall River Press). Though the book’s title is gender-specific, the content is universal.

If you enjoy these, hop on over to my sister blog, Just Say Yes Now!, for a trifecta including Refuse, Remember, Restore.

Be

Remember that life is in the being, not the doing. Be every bit of everything that you are. Be tough, be soft, be dramatic, be subdued. Be a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Be the one who always shows up on time or be the one who lives according to her own inner clock. Be the one who never forgets a detail or be the one who never remembers. Be happy when you feel like it and be sad when you’re down. Be who you are — not who they told you you should be. Be able to cry in front of someone you hardly know, if it’s time to cry. Be willing to be real. Be talkative if you are; be quiet if you’re not. Be ready to drop your masks and your protective armor and be genuine. Be in the moment, be in the light. And just when they think they know exactly who you are, be prepared to be something altogether different.

Begin

Start something! Put one foot in front of the other and inch forward ever so slightly. Show up. Say Hello and begin a conversation. Ask Says who? and begin a revolution. Write one sentence and begin your novel. Begin again, this time in a different key, at a different tempo. Begin putting yourself first. Begin enjoying it. Begin an intentional community if that’s how you want to live. Begin a reading group and focus on women who made bold new beginnings. Begin a new way of eating, a new way of moving, a new way of getting your needs met. Begin as soon as you finish reading this page. Begin at the beginning and don’t even think about where it will take you. Now begin!

Believe

Believe in the power of believing. Say I believe and believe it. Believe in fairy tales for what they can teach you about real life. Believe in happy endings, and believe that they don’t always happen. Believe in something, anything, that gives you the courage and strength to continue on when it would be so easy to give up. Believe it when a friend says you’re beautiful. Believe it when you hear the words You deserve to be happy. When someone tells you smething, believe the parts that feel right, that resonate in your belly, and discard the rest. Believe that you have choices and that you can choose wisely. Believe your own instincts above anyone else’s. Believe that you can do more with your life than you’re doing, and then do it. Above all, believe in yourself. When something seems truly unbelievable, it may be worth believing. Can you believe that?