Here we are again,
Taking a moment to pause.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Bring your shoulders up by your ears.
Now circle them down your back.
Feel the places you are connected to the good and solid earth.
Tap into the wide spaciousness inside.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
If you are anything like me,
You hate being told what to do.
Whenever it happens,
Out roars the surly two-year-old who stamps her foot and says,
I don't wanna.
And yet at the beginning of this,
I told you to inhale,
Exhale.
And did you do it?
I hope so.
But why?
Because you probably had a feeling that what I was telling you was going to be a good thing,
A way to help you cope,
A way to help you get through.
Inhale,
Exhale.
We do not like being told what to do.
And yet I think we all know that this is critical,
That we follow what we are being told to do.
And so I want to think of this in a different way.
When you were a teenager,
Did you ever do something you never would have done simply because someone dared you to do it?
I did.
Was it always something smart or good?
No,
Definitely not.
But what if we take this moment to dare ourselves?
Why would we do that?
Because I don't know about you,
But in many ways,
I feel powerless right now,
As if I have no agency,
No ability to do or act.
And that can be frustrating and demoralizing.
So I am going to dare you to give you some power,
To give you some agency,
To give you some work to do.
I dare you to sit.
I dare you to brave the wilderness inside.
Inhale,
Exhale.
I dare you to love yourself.
Without condition,
Without hesitation.
I dare you to love you.
I dare you to name your gifts.
I dare you to name your dreams.
I dare you to be vulnerable,
To speak of your fears.
I dare you to ask someone else to speak of their fears.
And I dare you to listen.
Really listen.
I dare you to be here now.
I dare you to let go of the past,
To quit worrying about the future.
I dare you to name all of the things you have to be grateful for.
I mean it.
Name all of the things you have to be grateful for.
That list can go on and on and on.
I dare you to breathe.
I dare you to hold on to your center.
If you are facing this alone,
I dare you to treat yourself as if you are the love of your life.
Because you know what?
You are the love of your life.
If you are facing this with others,
I dare you to treat them as if they are the loves of your life,
No matter what they might be doing.
I dare you to face this with a softness,
A slight smile at your lips,
An opening at your heart.
I dare you to use this rare and oh so weird time to be you.
The wise you.
The beautiful you that you already are.
And I dare us all to see this as an edge,
A collective learning edge where we decide who we are,
And we will decide who we want to be and what we will do next.
Inhale.
Exhale.
I dare you to live in love and light and hope.
Namaste.
