UNTIL RECENTLY

Archie is smiling. You can’t see it [and that’s on purpose] but behind that little bucket seat and under his floppy Gilligan hat is a little boy who can’t get enough of Papa and Nene pumping their feet and flying through air.

You may find this hard to believe, but until recently I was not the swinging type. Maybe it was the long legs that made it impossible for a lanky little girl to pull them back without dragging her feet. Maybe it was the immediate nausea from the to-and-fro motion that  nearly always accompanied the climb.

Until recently, I had not been compelled as urgently or needfully to play.

Until recently, I had not tossed aside the things I was,  to make room for precisely who I want to be.

Until recently, I had not marveled at the view waiting just over and beyond the forest green bar.

Isn’t it extraordinary how the humble moments teach us to be brave and strong, Lifting feet up off the ground or walking down a long, sterile hall?

To us the swing is playtime. To a child it is central to the belief that it is possible to not only conquer but master a difficult thing.

What in your life is compelling you to be brave and strong—

Are you challenging yourself to do something every day that you didn’t believe you could do?
Are you asking friends to show you where the blind spots are that keep your from being authentically you?
Are you noticing the repetitive excuses that guard you from conquering fear?
Are you taking small risks in progression that move you closer to the life you want to live?

Power accumulates with every pump and stretch of legs and feet.
And the potential energy [what is inside you] converts to kinetic energy [what is created by you] over and again.

This is what happens when we agree to participate in the world—
Like the swing, the movement forward and upward depends entirely on the determination we bring.