REAL

It’s one of the first really cold mornings of the mid #fall season here in the #SmokyMountains. Color hangs on the trees awaiting their final parade through their season of change. Here, I sit on the porch with a hot cup of coffee and wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket while the sun rises and brings light and warmth to my little corner of the world.

My thoughts are scattered. My feelings resemble a roller coaster ride. My body aches from the tensions that life has hurled at me. I have no #truenorth today; no direction, no compass.

The way the fog spoons the mountain tops is a parallel for me. I feel wrapped up in a fog of emotions. I am praying for people. I am experiencing loss. I have friends who are in the fight of life and death. Life is pretty much raw. It's #real. I’m praying for the fog to lift.

But that’s the ebb and flow of it. One day we are on a mountain singing songs and chasing rainbows and the next we are dragging ourselves through a valley of despair and clinging on to any slither of hope we can scratch around for. Just trying to survive and barely able to whisper a prayer or a reasonable thought.

Everyone experiences life differently yet one thing is common to us all; we all hike the mountain tops and we all crawl through the valleys. Some of us just stay in these places longer than others. I believe our real growth occurs in the valleys. The ground is much more fertile in the valley than on the mountain. That fact has changed my perspective on the struggles I face, not that I welcome those fertile moments. I can face the turmoil with a little more hope.

This has been my 2021 call to action; to be REAL. And being REAL means that I cannot run and hide from the world when life is unpleasant. It means that I push, pull, and drag myself through it. Being real means that I explore life's adventures with new eyes and learn to love people better.

R – Be RESPONSIVE

E – Be EAGER

A – Be ABSOLUTELY AUTHENTIC

L – Lead with LOVE

This is me being real. This is what real is to me. This is how I want to live the rest of my life; #responsive to others and #eager to be present with them. Responsive to adventure and eager to do things I am uncomfortable with. I am working to show up in my space as absolutely #authentic and #love others well. I want to love God like He loves me, and I am learning to love myself and see myself as God sees me.

I wonder what your acronym would look like? Would your R be reflective? Would your E be extreme? What about you’re A and your L?

A new year is in sight, and I issue this challenge to you, dear readers: Let’s get real.