Note: This is a guest post from my close friend, Nancy Bouwens. She is a simplicity coach, writer, speaker and wonder seeker! She loves books, laughter and coffee with the people she treasures most.
I believe in living a life of celebration. I believe the world we wake up to each day is incredibly full to the brim with more passion than we can contain and our hearts overflow with a deep aching for love and acceptance.
Choose Joy.
Mixed in with the celebration of life is also pain and great sadness. While we each face both joy and pain, life is not fair and some have more hard and ugly places than others.
Choose Joy.
When I look in the mirror I see a face and a neck which seem to belong to someone else. Time marches on but I am determined to navigate the next chapter of my life with grace no matter what comes my way.
Choose Joy.
Is it possible to live life full-out, doors open wide and wind in our hair until we cross from this life to the next? I want to be caught in the very act of living until my final breath.
Choose Joy.
It's a little bit rebellious perhaps to choose such an exuberant and out loud kind of life. It can make others uncomfortable. We could just live a normal, every day, quiet sort of life and save up all the good parts of living for someday. Much like saving the "good" dishes for guests who, if asked, would tell you they would much rather eat on plain paper plates in your backyard, with their feet up, listening to the night sounds and sipping great wine, instead of using fancy china and sitting inside on stiff chairs.
Choose Joy.
What if we looked at our life as a celebration? What if we saw it as our own special occasion? What if we could see through magic glasses, and understand with every fiber of our being we have been given an incredible gift, and we chose to take it all in - knowing we will not have this moment before us again?
Choose Joy.
We live in a beautiful world. Yes, there are awful parts of it, and there will be hurt and our tears and heartbreak will be huge. There are pieces of this life which should not be. But they are and we must keep breathing and standing and reaching upwards toward the hand of a God who loves us without measure and promises enough strength to sustain when all around us crumbles.
Choose Joy.
When you and I live purposefully and well, when we dance instead of sitting it out no matter we don't know the steps or the music is unfamiliar, we have a chance to embrace our one and only life and live it to the fullest with few regrets.
Choose Joy.
Laugh out loud until tears run down your cheeks and make squiggly rivers in your makeup. Run into the winds with arms open, loving big and deep and wide. Don't care if you look silly or something jiggles which never did before. Live your very best life with every breath you have been given!
Choose Joy.
Nancy Bouwens - Simplicity Coach. Writer & Wonder Seeker
Nancy has a deep passion to see individuals find their place of belonging and purpose at any age and any stage of life.
She is an empty nester mom to three adult children and writes, coaches and speaks about living on purpose through intentional choice and embracing a simpler, slower and more abundant life.
Her speaking topics include: Dancing in the Rain, How to Keep Believing in the Midst of a Storm, When Your Heart is Shattered - Loving a Prodigal Child, Balanced Living in an Unbalanced World, KISS Keep it Simple Sister – Making What Matters Matter, and Living from the Inside Out - Reaching for a Life of Significance and Purpose.
Nancy has seen the faithfulness of God in the midst of unspeakable pain as her three adult children, within a short seven month time span, each journeyed through life changing medical conditions; a car accident resulting from drunk driving, an autoimmune disorder, and a devastating stroke.
She daily holds tight to Psalm 27:13 Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. [NLT]
Nancy would love to connect with you:
Website: An Intentional Life
Facebook: An Intentional Life
Twitter: @nancy_bouwens
