At the end of a long, challenging year, I am feeling reflective.

Here are my last words for this year: a final slice of wise, yet humble pie.

Make sure to experience real, pulse-pounding, I-can’t-breathe love at least once. 

Watch the sun rise on the north rim of the Grand Canyon.

Listen to the stones sing in Sedona.

Remind yourself to find the spiritual grounding you need by dragging a stick in the sand at the beach or by climbing a tree so you can see the stars better.

Nothing outside of you can define you.

You are the creator of your experience of life, the author of your story – make it one that you want to live, you want to tell.

Don’t think that money will fill you up; instead fill your life with messy sensory experiences: pastels, glue sticks, bits of paper, glitter.

Give something back to the world—a poem; your child’s life; a loaf of wheat bread; a crisp dollar; a soft blanket; a kind word.

Have reverence for the water, the moist earth, the dome of stars floating above you.

Take a few uncalculated risks.

Pray.  Breathe.  Sigh. Sleep. Dream.

Make mistakes.

Your life is a container of absolute divinity. 

You possess wisdom and a reason for being.

If you live full throttle, with your neck out, running along the edges of all that you want to savor and experience, you will—without a doubt—experience true joy and no regrets.

© 2008 Shavawn M. Berry

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