Looking in a mirror can sometimes be such a scary thing to do when it involves your soul. It takes courage and a willingness to be authentic, with yourself. What is healing really? The courage to look at your own ugly and willingness and desire to change the parts that are no longer serving your purpose in life. That also means understanding your purpose. It’s not a fixing or not liking. It is rather an acceptance, loving and strength to do the hard. I am so thankful that I had a father who taught me principles in life that I can bring back into remembrance in the times I can’t see through the forest. If you are lost among the trees and can’t see through, look up. It is so beautiful how nature gives such an amazing and impactful image of the blueprint of how to live life. My dad not only instilled biblical and life principles in me, he also deeply instilled in me how strong I am. In moments I felt I could not go on and could not face what I had to face he would remind me who I am and how strong I am. I could write a whole book titled, Principles My Father Taught Me. Was this man perfect? By no means. But that makes his lessons even better and more impactful. In his imperfection he still modeled principles of strength and love.

Excuses are a dangerous thing. They hold you back. They give you reasons not to succeed. They make you weak. What are your excuses for making poor choices? What are your excuses for your own poor behavior? What are your excuses for not being willing to change the areas you’ve grown comfortable with? What is your excuse to not grow? What is your excuse to to sit in your own shit instead of cleaning it up?

What is your purpose? What is your why? Now, what continues to take up space or have a place in your life that is not aligning to how you answered those two questions? And what is your excuse for allowing it to continue to exist? Are there habits, people, places that you allow that are not aligning? And finally, what will you do about it? Do you know who you are? Your authentic you, not the you that you allowed the world to determine you are, not the you you’ve allowed your friends or parents to speak into existence, but the true authentic you at the core. You can’t answer the first two questions without first knowing this.

Go ahead, look in that mirror, but when you look don’t just have eyes to see the ugly, have eyes to see the beauty. Duality exists. Allow yourself to see that duality. Growth happens when we look then walk away holding what we saw in its duality and choosing to live a life that serves who we truly are. Is 1% good enough or is it an excuse for slow progress, an excuse to remain comfortable with the things that hold you back? To be different, you have to choose different, every step of the way, not only when it’s convenient. What are you choosing.