I have to admit, I designed this one for me. I needed this reminder to hold and wear to tell me to keep going. I needed to be reminded not to quit, but to rest.
Observing the cycles of plants more closely during the pandemic, I saw that all of nature rests. There is time to preserve energy, close my eyes and sit still that is as important as the time to work and create and grow. One begets the other in a beautiful symbiotic relationship. The more I observe and listen to what my own body and mind need, I become more clear about what my priorities are and how I want to spend, as Mary Oliver says, my one wild and precious life.
So often, we feel the difficulty, the uphill climb, of our path as a sign that we should turn around and go back to where things were smooth and easy. Please check in with your gut when you feel this way. If your freedom lies up and over the mountain, do not go back, rest. If your peace of mind or your truest self, lies over the mountain, do not go back. It is worth the fight. It is worth the sweat and struggle.
We must climb steep slopes and fight dragons to make substantial change in ourselves and in the world. If you find yourself leaning up against a proverbial tree, breathing hard, looking down, wanting to quit. Please rest instead. Lay down. Get still. Take deep breaths. Listen to your voice. Drink the crystal clear water of your true knowing. And then, my dear trailblazers, Keep Going.