Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Jun/July 2019 Aspire Magazine FULL Issue | Page 55
“I am called to live the abundant life not
the exhausted life. I am planted to thrive
not to survive!”
– JAACHYNMA AGU
depleted and recharge it. We need to do the
same for ourselves.” But what if we did not
wait until our battery was depleted? What
if instead of buying into the myth that we
must give until we are exhausted, we chose
to cultivate a thriving life full of abundance?
Imagine our cups being so full that we give
from our saucers.
So how can we
live from this place
of abundance and
thriving?
To begin we need to identify what thriving
looks like for each of us. When I asked the
audience during my keynote speech at a
women’s retreat earlier this month, I heard
many responses including taking time
for myself, listening to my own needs and
desires, having enough energy to share
generously with others, learning new things,
traveling, attending more retreats, being
out in nature, enjoying time with family
and friends, being vibrantly healthy, feeling
purposeful, making a difference, and leaving
a legacy.
What does thriving
look like for you?
Once you identify what thriving looks like
you can begin to cultivate your thriving
life like a gardener lovingly cultivates their
garden. This place of abundance and
possibility requires intentional loving care
and consistent nurturing to increase your
capacity to receive more love, compassion,
kindness, peace, and joy than you ever
imagined was possible. In this process, you
will not be expected to do anything perfectly
but rather to give yourself permission to show
up authentically in your life and cultivate your
self-nurturing practice. Without unrealistic
expectations, thriving will feel joyful, rather
than one more thing on your “to do” list.
Can you imagine how healing it would be
to include yourself on your own “to do”
list and release feeling guilty or selfish
when you take time to care for yourself
As you embark on cultivating your thriving
life, I offer you the metaphor of gardening to
support you in planting seeds of self-nurturing
to blossom, grow, and thrive. I love how nature
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