Make Room For Your Thoughts

The only relationship in life that is not a choice is the relationship you have with yourself. No matter what you do in this life, YOU are always going to be there. Friends and family and teammates and coworkers will all come and go, but you, you’re stuck with you.

But if we're being really honest, our relationship with ourselves is the most complex and often ignored relationship. It is the one we say we'll work on "when I get everything else done."  It is not the priority.

At least that is where my relationship with myself sat for a long time. It wasn't until a pretty solid string of events in my life happened that I realized I didn't know what I thought about what had just happened in my life.

Thankfully, I've had a journaling practice that I can trace back to 1997. Sometimes more consistent than others, but over the past 13 years, it has been my saving grace.

Last month, I took a poll better to understand my Instagram followers' perspective on journaling. Would you be willing to take one minute and answer 4 very simple questions for me to help me understand your point of view on journaling?

(I am hoping to get 200 responses, so 5% of this community.)

Will you help me? TAKE SURVEY

Quote That Feels Timely

“It is a sad fate for someone to die well known to everyone else but still unknown to himself.” - Sir Francis Bacon

Show I Appreciate But Hoped For More

Ever have that show that you keep watching and hoping the next episode will redeem the previous ones? That is kinda how I feel about Apple's "The Big Door Prize ." I love the premise, but have been finding the plot and dialogue to be lacking. But I keep watching.

If you haven't heard of the show, basically a machine shows up unexpectedly inside the general store of a small town. The machine can tell you your life's potential. Each small-town resident that receives their life's potential is changed, and not always for the best. The four reactions that happen when people find out their life's potential are:

1. Clarity and direction: Knowing their potential provides clarity and direction in life, helping them identify their strengths and weaknesses and choose a career or path that aligns with their skills and interests.
2. Limiting beliefs: These people are told their potential and it discourages them from pursuing anything more than what they have already.
3. Increased motivation: For some, it is a great source of motivation. They feel more driven to put in the effort and make progress toward their full potential that previously felt out of reach.
4. Self-doubt: Some are overwhelmed by the idea of their potential, leading to self-doubt and anxiety. They feel like they have to live up to a certain standard or expectation; if they don't, they may feel like they have failed.

I have given more than a couple of pages in my journal this week to these questions about the discovery of potential.  

All in all, I am glad I have been watching it each week, but I have high hopes for the final episodes of this season.

Movie That Made Me Feel Things

"Morgan Freeman talks a lot."

That is enough for me to be convinced to watch a movie. There is nothing like his voice.

"Zach Braff directed it and it captures the soul of growing up New Jersey and NYC."

All in. No more questions asked.

Those two facts about A Good Person were more than enough for me to rent this movie over the weekend. And damn, it did not disappoint. Even when you knew what was coming next in a couple of tense scenes, you still felt every emotion of the characters and could imagine the scene happening in your family.

Florence Pugh gives an incredible performance and really ties the breadth of challenging topics covered in this movie together.

You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll feel the feels. And it is all worth it.

It gave me a solid journal entry about the role that family plays in our lives. Even if just for a time. The people that really care will always really show up.

There are some big things brewing in the week ahead and I can't wait to share them with you next Tuesday.

Thank you for continuing to let me drop some thoughts in your inbox each week. I hope this continues to be a welcome message waiting for you each Tuesday morning.

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