My Best Life

This is an excerpt from the weekly News-Loveletter. If you would like it sent to your inbox directly (with all the other juicy bits, including a mini joy practice), you can add yourself to my mailing list here.

I settle myself at the picnic table with a highlighter and a decaf brew. My notes are weighted down by my favorite rocks. The sun slips behind a cloud, and Leo chews a bone on the lawn. Our flowers bloom more slowly today. Autumn is nudging her way in.

I’m preparing to speak on Eva Happy’s The Shadows Run Podcast. Eva is an alumni of Joy Together. She’s doing such good work in the world with her show. I’m honored to be a part.

I adore working outside at the cusp of autumn. I love preparing to speak. It forces me to clarify my thoughts, check my logic, and notice outdated perspectives. I consider my words carefully, as a practice of joy.

I’ll give you an example. Where I once said, “My mother ran away from home when I was fourteen,” it’s now a better fit to say, “I had an experience at age fourteen that put me ahead of my time.” Don’t we all want to be ahead of our time?

This Up-framing allows the listener or reader to appreciate my mother more. I view my childhood as the best thing that has ever happened to me. I wouldn’t have been ready to marry the person-of-my-dreams at age eighteen without it.

Just because my childhood was hard at the time doesn’t mean it always has to be hard. Now that I see the value of my childhood, every aspect of it, I feel differently than I did then. I don’t have to suffer looking back. I actually feel grateful.

Changing the way I experience the world today changes what happened yesterday, too.

I look forward to sharing my practice of Up-framing on the pod. Learning to choose words that are authentic and feel better brings me joy and improves my health and relationships.

What’s authentic to me changes by the minute. I want to share my thoughts in the most authentic and best feeling way possible. That means I need to consciously check what’s most true for me and what feels best before I open my mouth. This is a skill, a practice. I’m on it—with joy. Want to join me?

When do you choose your words carefully? Do you do this out of fear or joy?