Transition. Heart. Daring Greatly. ~ 48 Hours Later


I guess one could say that I am in a state of transition. One might even say I have been going through a "state of transition" for about 15 months. I am not sure that this one (Me) would have said I am someone who would admit that openly...to a stranger...in a crowded reception...at the end of an emotional day...Yet, I did all of that...last night.

I am a planner...to my core...so to admit openly that I am working without a plan, trusting God, and allowing myself to be taught true submission to a will not my own...Well, my name is Heather Nelson, and that is not me.  At least I didn't think it was...

Then last night happened.

I am at a perfectly lovely reception. Having a perfectly nice time. Reeling (and glowing) slightly from the day. Biting into a beautiful piece of bruschetta, and literally with it halfway in my mouth, a woman says, I have been dying to meet you. I smile...bruschetta still in my mouth, and I slowly crunch down (what else could I do??? pull it back out??? :)))

I ended up having the most fascinating conversation with this person, and it didn't strike me until I was telling a friend about it this morning just how strange the encounter was...and how out of character I acted with a perfect stranger. 

Hmmm...

I believe that God sends people to you at the perfect time to help you realize something he needs you to realize.

*Deep Breath*

I am a woman in transition, and I am unafraid to shout that out. I have no idea what I am going to be doing six months from now or a year from now. I am perfectly content (kinda sorta) to let the wind take me where it will...where God will. If you hear all of the things I am currently doing, and all of the things I have coming at me over the next six months...you might scratch your head OR you might realize what I did last night...I am a woman living by faith...on faith. THAT is what this is...

*Sigh*

So this is what it feels like?

Interesting sensation...

:)))

The person last night fained that I was "fascinating"...my life "fascinating"...which could have been sincere or code for "you're nuts"....or a combination of the two. ;)

I think God sent this person to me, for me, though...Seriously. I think it was a test, a teachable moment, an "a ha"...and bless God's heart...it took nearly 12 hours to sink into my thick skull. :)

Yesterday I had the amazing honor of introducing our newest Alumni Endowed Scholars who will be entering the University of Arkansas this August and our two Alumni Endowed Scholars who graduate today.  Those who know my passion about all things scholarships, especially for my alma mater, know that there are not too many things that I would have been more excited or scared to do; it was a huge day. My heart was bursting.  All four of these amazing students are about to start new transitions. My wish for them is that they embrace their hearts as they step into their new journeys because it is their heart that got them to this point. That is a lesson I wish I had known at their delicate ages...18 and 22. That is a lesson I wish more of us knew.

Our lives begin and end with the beat of our hearts.

It is a powerful concept...the thought of leading your life solely with your heart. Not your family, not your relationships, not your job...your WHOLE life.

I have zero idea...zip...what the next 20+ years of my life will look like...much less the next six months, but what I do know...without a shadow of a doubt....is that my life and my actions will be more reflective of my heart, and less reflective of my wants....until such time that my heart and wants 100% align, 100% of the time.

I am not there yet, but I am making progress. Yesterday taught me that. That conversation taught me that. My heart tells me that.

"Above everything else guard your heart, because from it flow the springs of life." ~ Proverbs 4:23
 
"A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge." ~ Thomas Carlyle
 
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.and most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition." ~ Steve Jobs
 
"Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
 
and finally, the quote that I left the students with yesterday, and the one that is quite literally rocking my world these days...


"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
Theodore Roosevelt
"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

 
May we all live our lives in such a way that daring greatly is the rule, not the exception.

Transition. Heart. Daring Greatly.

It has been quite the 48 hours. :)

Sunshine Dreams to You ~ Today and Every Day! :)