Wife. Mother. Daughter. Sister. Educator. Friend. Hippie.
That last noun has nothing to do with the multitude of hip surgeries that I have had. From a medical perspective, I guess I could be considered a “hippie”, however, that is not the reason I identify myself as a hippie. My why is that I seek happiness and peace in my life using the lens of love and gratitude. I certainly have all the reasons to whine, feel sorry for myself, complain, lack gratitude, but I choose to rise above the negativity. I value others. I express gratitude. I seek peace through chaos. I don’t create chaos.
As I sat reclining and relaxing this last week, I came across this quote, “Shame loves silence. Pain loves silence. Trauma loves silence. … Healing gets enabled
when we remove our emotional muzzles. And your voice can be a catalyst for that. Love yourself enough to keep speaking. Practice coming from a place of compassion …”
- Xavier Dagba
Using your voice to love yourself means banishing the negative self-talk and banishing the negativity towards others. Using your voice means being compassionate to your body even though it may fail you. Using your voice means being compassionate and graceful towards others. Positivity begets positivity. In the end, working towards positivity, gracefulness and gratitude will get you further. It will give you peace and happiness.
The grammar of goodwill includes adding adjectives to your noun. Are you going to be identified by a label with the word, miserable, before it? Or are you going to identify yourself with a positive adjective in front of a noun?
So properly creating a sentence of gratitude includes a noun “I”, a verb “appreciate” and another noun “fill in the blank”. Use your voice for healing towards yourself and your imperfections and towards others and their imperfections. Use your voice to be a true hippie. Be a noun that you are proud to be. Go heal yourself with positivity, gratitude and hopefulness.