wherever you are... whatever you are...

We all need to take stock of our lives every now and then. We should do this every few years, if not more often. It doesn't matter whether you're blissfully happy or bored or unhappy. We all need to re-evaluate and re-adjust our plans and goals. We are in constant motion - growing, changing, evolving. And while fundamentally, at our cores, we are the same people we were 10, 20 and 30 years ago, we have lived life and experienced situations that have caused changed. We may have started careers, or switched careers. We may have gotten married. We may have started families. We may have lost loved ones along the ways. We may have experienced promotions or even job losses. We may have seen the end to a marriage. We may have moved our homes and our families - perhaps down the road, perhaps to another state, or even another part of the world. Life is not stagnant. We are not stagnant. The sun rises and sets every day. But no two sunrises or sunsets are the same. Some sunrises are more spectacular than others. Or perhaps they're not, perhaps it's just that we've stopped to notice one. We remarked of the sun's spectacular beauty and how the sky, newly dressed in her evening gown of pinks and purples, forced us, for a moment to slow down and take a look at the beauty around us. While this particular sunset is not terribly unlike all the others, we notice details that we hadn't noticed before. 

We need to look at our lives the way we do these magnificent sunsets. We need to stop our engines. We need to stop and look, really, really look. We need to take in the colors and shades. We need to pay attention to where the sun is and where she's headed. Our lives are like sunsets. They're filled with beauty and wonder. A new day lies just around the corner. But we don't often enough stop to look and take stock. Were our dreams of 20 years ago the same they are now? Most likely they will have differed, even if just very slightly. Interests and priorities shift and make way for new ones. Sometimes we need to put our passions on hold for a while to raise families or other obligations. We may need to do something to recharge our batteries... we may need to find new inspirations... plot out new plans... stroll down new paths... connect new dots. We often have hurdles and roadblocks. They shouldn't stop us; we simply need to find ways around them. Or perhaps we've reached our goal. It's important to create new ones. It's important that we keep challenging ourselves and keep learning. It's important we keep trying new things. We should never settle. If you never settle, you will never, ever lose yourself.

XOXO

Jessica