Balancing Act

By Suzie Carr

@girl_novelist

Yesterday, I spent the better part of my day desperately trying to get in the zone. I even drank four cups of coffee, but to no avail, I couldn't focus. 

Finally, listening to my body, I surrendered to the lazy afternoon. 

This is highly unlike me. I’m that crazy go-getter with a mile long to-do list and more goals than would be humanly possible to accomplish in one lifetime. Despite this, I realize that every once in a while, we all need a day to play hooky. It does the mind good to rest it and let it run loose without restraint. So, yesterday, after fighting the urge to relax for too long, I loosened the grip and just let myself enjoy a beautiful afternoon free of work, of demands, of anything that required too much focus.

I needed to do this. Lately, I’ve scheduled my days to the minute. I believe goal setting and actions are critical to move forward in life. But, I also I believe if a person charges full force ahead leaving no room for fun, for wonder, for freedom, she will fall flat and run out of steam.

Balance is key.

Every once in a while, we all need to take time out to just be. So, after spending the morning running around like a wild woman clocking one important task after another, I ran out of steam and had nothing left. That’s when I surrendered. I let the tension roll off of my shoulders and embraced some downtime.

I breathed in some beautiful fresh air, basked in the unseasonably warm February sunshine and let my mind wander off to the beauty of the birds flying above and the fluffy white clouds floating on the backdrop to the prettiest periwinkle sky I’d seen in a while.

The result? Today, my mind is clear. My breaths are deeper. My heart is open to the possibilities of a brand new day.

Bring it on! I am recharged.

Here’s hoping you find that sweet spot of balance in your life, too!

Suzie

I feel it's critical to support the community, and so I've committed to donate a portion of my book sale proceeds to the NOH8 Campaign (www.noh8campaign.com)

The Power to Forgive

"It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters." – Epictetus 

By: @girl_novelist

I once held a grudge against someone for three months over something hurtful she said to me. I carried that grudge around like it was my suit of armor. It justified my bitterness. I’d go to sleep at night and allow this grudge to take up refuge in my dreams. I’d wake in the morning and further allow it to accompany me through the day and diminish my spirit.  To sum up this span of time – I wasted three good months of my life. 

Forgiving someone is hard. At that moment of giving in, you feel like you’re selling out. So, you hold tight to your ideals for the sake of standing your ground and you wait for that moment when vindication seeps in and makes you feel good again. 

I waited three months for this person to apologize for her hurtful words. The apology never arrived. Instead, I was left with nothing more than a dreaded feeling that I had lost a battle and she had won. 

Then one day I was having lunch with a good friend of mine, complaining about how much worse I felt towards this person still after three long months. My friend placed her fork down, then reached out for my fork and placed mine down, too.  She grabbed hold of my hands, stared me straight in the eye and begged me to let go.  “Be the better person and forgive her.”

The pressure of my three-month burden suddenly suffocated me.  I wanted to let go. 

The weight of carrying around this anger for so long had created such an imbalance, such a burden, such an emotional drain on my soul that suddenly I needed to shed it. I wanted to sleep a full night again. I wanted to wake up feeling light and happy. I wanted my peace back. 

I spent one whole week writing and rewriting an email to this person trying to find the right words to describe the pain she had caused me, and how I wanted to just move on and forget everything. These drafts grew to the size of a chapter, stretching out for thousands of words. Every new draft seemed to negate the very thing I was trying to do. I was telling her how wrong she was and how I was going to be the one to set it right.  She’d never read this and think, yeah, let’s hug now and be best of friends again.   

So, a week later, thousands of words into it, I decided on this instead: “I miss you and I love you.” 

I hit send and the weight of the world fell from my shoulders. 

I learned that sometimes the best way to show your strength is to be humble with it and come in like a gentle breeze. 

Wishing you lots of peace, 

Suzie 

I feel it's critical to support the community, and so I've committed to donate a portion of my book sale proceeds to Chely Wright's LikeMe foundation (http://likeme.org/) to help provide support, resources and education to LGBT individuals, and their families and friends.

Change

When you are through changing, you are through. ~Bruce Barton


By: Suzie Carr@girl_novelist
Change is something that can benefit all of us. It can bring us rewards, introduce us to new opportunity, and present us with beautiful new insights. A life rich with change is really like a healthy garden. Everything is budding, flowering, growing into spectacular new form.


Change is scary for most. It requires getting out of our comfort zone and walking an unfamiliar path that could bend or twist in ways we never thought imaginable. It’s only through this process, though, that we conjure up the momentum to get us places we’ve never seen before.

Sure, it’d be easier on our psyche and our nerves if everything just stayed the same, remained predictable. We’d know what each day would bring us. We’d be surefooted, confident that each step would lead to somewhere within our control, within our scope, within our patterns. We’d fall asleep every night unchanged, unweathered, pretty much the same exact person we were when we awoke that very morning.


If that sounds dull to you, further indulge with me for a moment and imagine what this world would look like if nature refused to shake things up every day. Picture a world where the clouds didn’t give way to sun, brown grass didn’t turn green, bulbs didn’t bloom into full-grown flowers, and bare tree branches didn’t sprout leaves.


Change renews the spirit, freeing us from all that is old and holding us back from our destiny. In moments of change and uncertainty, take pleasure in the unknown of the situation. Be reassured, the sun will shine, life-preserving raindrops will fall, seedlings will grow, and the flowers will bloom.


Change is beautiful. Its cultivating power nurtures our gardens within to grow into a colorful, ever-changing life.


Hoping you enjoy change as much as I do,


Suzie Carr


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I feel it's critical to support the community, and so I've committed to donate a portion of my book sale proceeds to Chely Wright's LikeMe foundation (http://likeme.org/) to help provide support, resources and education to LGBT individuals, and their families and friends.