Inspiration
Articles to inspire authentic living on the topics of resilience, spirituality, and self-growth with touches of storytelling, depth, and humor.
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From Survival to Thriving
It is challenging to thrive when multiple obstacles hit us, and life feels like a constant Whac-a-mole game. However, those periods that force us into survival mode are not a waste of time - as long as we decide to take advantage of it.
The last couple of years has forced many of us to deal with unforeseeable circumstances that have veered our paths from growth to survival. But, in those moments where we have no other choice but to surrender, we find the great gifts that come with challenging times. How we face each wave determines the growth that we can enjoy after the storm.
2022: Time To Unleash my Inner Child
Sometimes we have plans that can dissolve like sand in our hands in a second. 2021 has been a trying year in so many aspects. Experience has shown me that we always experience a year of constant challenges in our lives' cycles, followed by a time of appreciated growth. I don't know how we ended up with two years back-to-back of continuous blows. I guess I can only speak of myself, but I am exhausted. I have been exhausted for a while, numb, and at times hopeless.
When The Tide Goes Out…We Learn The Kind of Warrior We Are
We couldn’t have chosen two more perfect days. The weather was glorious: hot and breezy, clear skies, end-of-July warm water, perfect for one night camping in an island off the Long Island Sound.
I had not been able to swim for two weeks and I was determined to make up for it. Summer is short in New England after all, and the water is not usually that warm for long. So I swam as I had not done in years, up to the middle of the cove and back. I floated, I glided, I felt the delicious water surrounding me, the taste of salt, the heath of the sun setting over the coast, and seeing the reflection of a clear blue sky turning orange over the flat surface of the sea. Once the night set in and the sight of the first starts appeared, I swam again under the moonlight. The water surprisingly warm and the sensation of small fish coming to greet my legs. Growing up on the Caribbean imprints you with a natural draw towards the ocean, I guess. I had been in so many pristine beaches of crystalline, turquoise water and white, powdery sand, but that swim under the moon has been one of the most delicious and surreal experiences of my life
Owning Our Wingspan
As a child I tended to be one of the biggest girls of my class. When the nuns at school insisted we walked on a line by height order, I always knew my place was about three spots from the end of the line. I hit puberty too early, so at ten I had almost reached my current, average height of 5’ 5”. Looking older than what I was became the norm. In fact, when I was twelve years-old people assumed my sister and I were twins when in reality she is five years older.
Being naturally shy, I did not like the attention. Adults will comment how much I was growing, as if I had any responsibility on it. So I came out with a solution to my desire to become invisible: slouching. Bending my upper back, moving my neck forward actually made me look a few inches shorter. What I did not anticipate is how that was going to damage my posture. But becoming somewhat invisible seemed more important at the moment. As a consequence, It has taken me so many years of constant workouts and yoga to improve my stance slightly.
As I was scanning old photographs recently, I realized how much older than my friends I looked back then. Seeing it with the perspective that maturity gives, I could not find a reason why did it matter so much then. Why did I try to look smaller then? What did I try to become invisible? Why being higher than my friends did even bothered me?