Walking Tall

A few days ago, I was gifted with beautiful advice.  Naturally, this nugget of wisdom was delivered to me by someone who loves me from the highest place, and who knew that whatever space I was in when we were speaking, well....let's just say I needed to hear it.   It was just a single phrase, three words long.   And it has barely left my mind since.  Here it is:


Walk into today.


I took a pause when the words first rang through my ears.  Walk into today.   Hmm.   I knew it sounded like something I could do, and certainly something I wanted to do.  After all, the mere thought of it was helping me to calm down.  But what did it really mean to me?  And what would it feel like?


This afternoon, I made a decision to head to the beach and take care of my spirit.  Within seconds, I was revitalized by the warm sun dancing across my face.  I noticed the blue sky, and the whispy white clouds scrawled across it like a freshly painted masterpiece.  The waves crashed softly in front of me.  As I sat under a palm tree, I looked up above my head and saw its leaves blowing in the gentle breeze.  I heard the music in my headphones more clearly than ever.  I began to sing along, loudly in fact.  One glance around the beach revealed that all of life was dancing around me to its own perfect beat.  I felt my breathing relax.  All the cares of the day were gone.  I felt my heart open up, like a tulip in the springtime.  Nothing, and I mean nothing, could interrupt the peace I felt at that exact moment.


And then, it occurred to me.  Walk into today.  Hey, wait a minute.  I just walked into today!  And, maybe today is actually....every single moment!  At this point, all of my thoughts turned to the third person.  A voice decided to lecture me, right there on the beach.  It spoke to me in short phrases (it is my inner voice after all....what other voice would know how to communicate so perfectly to me?)


Here is what that voice said:


You know how to walk into today, Paul.


You walk into today every time you wake up and leave yesterday in its place.  It is done.  Today needs its space, after all.  Create that space by letting go of the past and letting the future be determined later.  This space, today's space, is all you have. 


Walk into today and let your heart speak loud and clear.  You will notice just how little apologizing you need to do when you choose your words carefully and with love.  If you feel like dancing, or singing, then you can speak that way too.  And no, it doesn't matter if you can do either of those things with any skill.  Just do them if it feels right.


Walk into today, and bring your smile.  This is life, Paul, and that smile of yours needs to be present.  Lighten up, big guy.  And speaking of lightness, that feeling will tip you off to when you are truly present in today.


Walk into today and get out of the way, Paul.  Stop taking everything so seriously in that mind of yours.  In fact, get out of that mind as often as you can.  If you are truly walking into today, none of this will even occur to you.  When your mind weighs you down, ask for help if you need it.  You are never alone in the Universe. 


Walk into today and be the real you.  Be as authentic as you can.  Live your truth.  Let it evolve.  You are always changing, my friend.  Keep growing and don't be afraid.  Just think:  How can you walk into today when you are not willing to let go of who you were yesterday? 


Walk into today and please....PLEASE....be gentle.  Be gentle with yourself.  Start there.  You are learning.  Go easy.  There are no mistakes, Paul, only learnings.  Remember that.  Oh, and being gentle with everyone else starts when you meet people exactly where they are, not where you want them to be.


One more thing, Paul.  If you don't walk into today, you will miss out on insights such as this on a daily basis.  Walk into today, because you don't want to let inspiration pass you by.