The Joy of Noticing

I’ve reached an age where I have slowed down just enough to notice a few things that I might not have paid attention to in my earlier years.
Most of the noticing involves me and my habits (or lack of habits), or the automatic shift I make when I complete a thing. Noticing also includes little glimmers of who I might become… the person I was meant to be that might have been afraid to share with the world before I reached this wonderful age.

There is JOY in noticing.

Let’s consider exercise as my first example. I notice that I LOOOOVE exercise when it involves cool breezes, sunrise and running from the incoming tide. I don’t love it when it involve heat, humidity and swarm of mosquitos that seem to move at the same three-mile-per-hour pace that I enjoy. I noticed I’m terrible at starting a workout session, but I’m always elated at the way I feel when I finish.

Example two… I noticed that I love to write on the days when I can lounge around in my robe and sip coffee until most people are thinking about lunch. My creativity levels spike on quiet days filled with meals of homemade sourdough toast and a side of laziness. If I wake inspired and have the freedom to roll with it, I can take on any task. If I wake feeling crummy and stuck, a ok-ish photo of something beautiful on my phone (along with a second cup of coffee) might be all the inspiration I need to write something worth saving.

Finally example three— I noticed that I feel like I deserve a BIG break when I complete something monumental, like weeding my overgrown hosta bed, cleaning the WHOLE house in one day or publishing a book. The summer weather in Iowa this year has been incredible- weeding has been annoyingly frequent, cleaning has been sporadic and the book has become a checked off bucket-list item.

What do you do when you finish a thing??

Do you continue down the same path or do you move on to conquer something new?

If you continue, is it as exciting? I mean, I wrote a book! How exciting is that??

In the middle of it, I talked myself in and out of quitting 100 times. But I stuck to it, partially because I think it’s important to finish a thing, but also because I couldn’t face Jeff with a request to throw our investment away. It helped that I met some amazing people and I reconnected with several who had been a part of my life years ago when I owned a gym. Strolling down memory lane while writing about several of my friends kept me moving forward many days.

But now it’s done, and if I’m completely honest with you, I’m stuck with selling it and I was NOT meant to be a salesperson! I feel like I spend life trying to create the perfect graphic to catch someone’s eye or strong arm a friend into writing a review (in case you were wondering, reviews help a ton).
Selling is not as fun as writing, but at least the book is done and I have something to show for the eighteen months I spent questioning myself!

It’s done.
But, I noticed, the world didn’t shift.
I’m still Kim, who owned a gym, who loves her husband, her family, and God, and just wants to help as many people as she can.
Now I can’t turn back… with the click of a button anyone can read what I think for as long as books are a thing. The initial fear of writing my thoughts down for the world to read has passed, and I noticed that it makes me feel a bit more bold.

I noticed I want to talk to women about Reflections of Joy, because there are entirely too many women walking around feeling crummy about themselves. I want to talk to men about Reflections of Joy because sometimes all it takes is a kind word or an engaged conversation to make someone feel better about their life. I want to talk to anyone who will listen about purpose and love and Jesus without using the words “Do or Should or the Bible says”. I want to lead and teach by being an example of the good in this world.
We live in a world that is so very opinionated, and I would challenge us to not only consider What Would Jesus Do but also What Would Jesus Say and/or post on his social media pages. Please think about that in the coming months… think about it a lot.

I noticed today that I feel called to just be Kim, more than ever before. And I kind of like it.

Be happy.