Day 165: Test Everything

Test everything.

I read this morning that it says that in the New Testament of the bible.

It also said that in ancient Greek test translates as welcome.

Whether it translates as test everything or welcome everything, both feel like good advice.

It's good to question everything, nothing is off limits.

Anything you've been told, your perception of things you've experienced, things you've believed as long as you can remember.

Question everything and see if right now, today, it's still something that serves you.

And then, to me welcome is the same as allow.

Allow everything that remains to be in a state of flow.

You've questioned, sifted and sorted what stays and what goes.

The rest is what you've decided still has a place in your life, so let it flow.

Don't struggle to control its path as it moves through your life.

You asked for it. Let it do its thing.

I realize now I'm writing this as current advice for myself.

As I prepare to move patio furniture and about half of my household to the motorhome tomorrow, I can't pretend this isn't a big deal.

I've lived in this penthouse for 11 years. My entire life I've moved about every two years, even as a child.

I was only planning on staying here for a year, but then I loved the view and the quiet so much, I stayed another.

A few summers I looked at other places but this one always won out.

And now I'm taking so much of what made this my home and creating what feels like a new life.

So, I am in fact, questioning everything.

Do I need this?

Is this important?

Why am I hanging on to this?

What purpose does this serve?

Can I do without this?

If I give this away, will I miss it?

I also want to make sure I am grounded in reality as I do this.

I don't want to be creating some motorhome fantasy that lives in my head.

It's like when I used to take solo vacations and I'd take a stack of books and think I'm going to do yoga and go for long walks and read all these books, and yet not one of those vacations actually played out that way.

Instead, in that relaxed state I ended up writing sales copy for my next live event or my next product launch.

That's where my creativity really wanted to go. Not to the things I brought expecting something that was not my true nature.

I enjoy all those things, but not to the exclusion of the work I love to do.

It was a fantasy vacation.

And I'm determined to create this motorhome lifestyle grounded in the reality of who I am and how I spend my time.

So it's important to question everything as it appears in my mind and also as I sort through things that stay or go.

You don't have to be making a big shift in your life to ask the same questions.

Questioning everything is something we can do continuously as guideposts to make sure we are moving in the direction we continue to choose for ourselves.

Is this what I want?

How does this feel right now?

Do I want to continue down this road?

What excites me about this?

What am I nervous about?

Is it just not knowing what is ahead, or is it something I should pay attention to?

Test everything.

Keep asking questions, good questions, deep questions.

And then welcome what remains, allow it to flow.

I plan to do these simple things as I move into and through this phase of transition in my life.

Today's Gentle Practice

Choose one area of your life that currently feels settled.

A relationship.

A habit.

A belief.

A commitment.

A goal.

A possession.

Then gently ask yourself:

If I were choosing this today for the first time, would I still choose it?

Not because something is wrong.

Not because you need to change anything.

Simply because periodically questioning what we carry helps us stay aligned with who we are becoming.

Sometimes the answer is yes.

Sometimes the answer surprises us.

With you,

Lynn