Moving One Foot in Front of the Other

Tonight my husband and I watched Snow White and the Huntsman.  I’d heard good things about it and since we wanted to watch a Halloween “appropriate” movie, that’s the one I picked.  (It was either that or Mirror, Mirror which is a lighter “take” on Snow White, but I felt like I wanted to watch a darker movie in honor of the Halloween season).

I wasn’t sure what to expect other than my husband had watched it and said he liked it.  I found myself taken in by this movie; I wasn’t sure exactly why but I loved watching it; all of it, even the harder parts to watch like the Queen ripping a heart out of a bird and eating it (that kind of thing usually has me turning my head or closing my eyes) or a young girl having the life sucked out of her by the Queen (yes, she was EVIL).

At one point, Snow White had escaped the castle and was running for her life.  She found herself in the Dark Forrest which was terrifying.  I guess the thought of having the Queen take your heart would make a person less fearful of the unknown.  As I watched Snow White continue to run, sometimes by herself and sometimes with the help of others,  I thought of how the running through the fear, parallels life. 

We have the choice:  we can move through hard times and fearful times and discouraging times or we can stop.  Stop where we are; we know where that is - it’s familiar or it’s at least what we know at the moment.  But as we stop moving we become stagnant; we quit growing.  We want to move toward the light, but we have to go through the darkness and unfamiliar territory to find it - sometimes.

To go through the darkness and to cover unfamiliar territory takes courage and faith.  In my case, my faith is in my Savior, Jesus Christ.  If I remember He is there then why should I fear?  The alternative is to be stagnant and to die; not a physical death in my case (Snow White could have physically died when she stopped); however, I could die spiritually (if only for the time that I stopped) and socially (cut off from those I love). 

I think the thing I was most impressed while watching Snow White continue to run in places that she’d never been, was that she was just moving one foot in front of the other.  Isn’t that what we have to do daily?  Just move one foot in front of the other in a forward motion? 

Remembering My Passions

Last week I was given the opportunity on two different days to remember two things that I absolutely love doing and that give me great satisfaction.  I haven't recorded anything on my blog for months, but I couldn't seem to find my inspiration.   Thanks to two of my friends, I have found two things I feel passionately about and that give me inspiration.

Last Saturday evening, late, I received a text from a friend who was having a panic attack.  She knew that I had been trained in Rapid Eye Technology and must have known that I could help (either that or she was desperate).  I haven't kept up my certification in Rapid Eye, but I have not forgotten everything and was able to help her use EFT to lower her panicked feelings from an "8" to a "3" which gave me such a good feeling.  I love helping people.

In the same week, I was asked by a friend if I would mind taking some Senior photos of her son for the yearbook.  I have not touched my camera for months.  I had forgotten how much I loved taking photographs and being creative!  She and her son came over on a Saturday in the late afternoon, and even with some slight rain, we took some great photos in my backyard.   As I was loading the photos onto my computer, I felt happy to be able to do this for my friend, but also felt happy to be doing something I loved!

For me, life is more enjoyable when I am participating in activities that bring me great joy; I had forgotten or had chosen to forget because I thought that I could not do either of these things very well.  Maybe it's not in doing things better than anyone else but just doing things the best I can that bring me joy; either way, I want to remember to stay in this place of remembering the things that I love doing.