The Best Me....

My world shifted. Not in a traumatic way but more in a subtle everyday slow undetectable unnoticeable kind of way. And yesterday I realized that the surprise to me was not that it shifted but that I finally noticed it. My eyes were opened and I saw that I had been off.

Living from my center. What does that mean? I think it is one of those things we recognize more when we are not doing it than we are. But what center? What does that look like? Yesterday I woke up just feeling off. Like I had been on a conveyor belt, a people mover, and was just going where it led me. It happens so subtly. I know that the demands of my world keep me there. There are so many things I am responsible for I seldom stop. I just keep meeting those needs. But I also know that when I feel overwhelmed with what I think I am to carry, I can retreat into a robotic kind of life where I just go through my routine and do the things I need to do and I neglect the centered heart that I long to live by.

When I think of a centered place, I imagine the BEST me I can. We all have that image of ourselves. It's us on our best days. I like this woman. I would want to be friends with her. She's funny and energetic and full of life. She brings light and levity and encouragement to her world. She's optimistic and hopeful and loving. She's passionate and truthful and confident. She fights against unkindness and injustice. She's not easily swayed by circumstances but steadfast in who she is. She's comfortable in her own skin. She knows who she is and she lays aside who she isn't. She smiles. She's good and Godly.

That's my centered me. That description of me is the result of me pursuing centeredness. It means for me having a moment at the beginning of my day, when I feel like I am at the starting line of today's race, to pause and think and write and allow my heart to slow and my fears to silence and the demands to quiet. Before the gun goes off, I must stop before my Father who meets me here in my thinking and my writing and gently leads me to His heart, my center. My Father who adores me and loves me leads me today.

I have realized in this life, at this time of my life, I must do this everyday. I am much too swerve-y on my own. So today I pause and I pursue the Center and I look for this best me.

And the race begins today. Tonight when I lay down my head on my pillow when I cross today's finish line, I want to rest in knowing I was that me I long to be. It's all I have to bring to this life. I want to live it well.

So who is your best you? I need her or him. The world needs your best you. Let that person loose today.

The gun just went off... the race has begun.