Cheers To Doing Our Best!

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

We are already in the second month of the new year, so how are you feeling? 

There are likely responses from all ends of the spectrum in a community this size. From motivated, refreshed, and excited to lackadaisical, exhausted, tranquil, and all the feelings in between. Can we agree that all emotions are valid at the start of a new year? So, wherever you are in your feelings as you read this message, please know that I see you, and there is room for all of it.

A Sluggish Start

As for me, I've been more on the exhausted end of the spectrum. This year has started much differently than years gone by. In years past, I've forced a lot of things at the beginning of a new year out of fear and to prove that I was worthy of all the redemption that a new year tends to afford. But this year, I literally could not go through the motions. I've spent the majority of this month physically ill and feeling blah.

During our travel over Christmas, I picked up a nasty bug bearing the gifts of every discomfort and symptom that comes with a severe cold or flu. I had such a hard time bouncing back. Still, I am not surprised because November and December were difficult for me emotionally, and the holidays, which tend to require a pace that is already unreasonable absent an emotional breakdown, proved to be much harder to endure while searching for happiness amid grief.

Awakened Grief

My Maternal Grandmother died at the beginning of November. The death of my Grandmother awakened a shocking intensity of grief over my Mother's death. Even though my Mother died more than 12 years ago, and I miss her every single day, the news of my Grandmother's death brought a fresh wave of loss. It hit me that my Grandmother's life served as a piece of my Mother that had survived her death, so my Grandmother's death forced me to face the finality of my Mother's life again, dare I say, with more finality. To say that I was not prepared for that would oversimplify the experience tremendously.

In addition, just days before my Grandmother's funeral, my Father had an urgent surgery, followed by a complicated aftermath. So, grappling with the finality of my Grandmother's physical life while being on high alert for all things regarding my Father indeed explains my entrance into this year exhausted and finding it difficult to shake off a minor illness.

Muzzling the Critic to Care for the Person

In this season of grief and physical illness, I've had no choice but to allow acceptance to radiate over me. And in doing so, I've had to muzzle my inner critic, whose spirit of FOMO has been on high alert. My commitment to therapy for the past 2.5 years has prepared me for these moments. I've lovingly demonstrated compassion, patience, and friendship toward myself in a way that I would not have had the tools or knowledge to grant in years past. I am grateful because God knew what I would need to carry me through. Even in all of this, I have had no lack! God provided me with everything I needed, and I am overflowing with utmost gratitude for His generosity toward me.

Hope IS the Way Forward

Whether you started this year off light and on fire and followed that high energy up with a solid first month, or if you started it lackluster and heavy with unanswered questions and are now feeling disappointment over your seemingly stagnant first month, hope is THEE strategy forward! 

Recently, I've heard people saying some variation of, "Hope is not a strategy," each time I listened to this lie, it pushed my proverbial button, provoking me to push myself to press on while also reminding me both WHO and WHOSE I am! 

So, here I am to instigate forward momentum within you! What do you believe God for in this new year? For some of you, this answer may fall easily from your lips, while others may have a more challenging time considering an answer to this question. Either way, establishing your expectation/s is the first step to moving or continuing forward! 

Remember, Hope is the relentless anticipation of good! It is the confident expectation that God will do what He said He would do in your life. No matter what it looks or feels like or how long it takes, hope says, you will see what you believe when you stay relentless in your position and pursuit. The better news is that your steadfastness to execute, even at the slowest pace, and your anticipation of good will keep the light on in your life until you see those things happen.

I know what I tell you is true because I am taking the same action I suggest. Trust me, I am not where I want to be on this journey, but I am choosing to honor the reality of my grief while simultaneously anticipating that, just like so many other times before, good will shine from this place!

I am doing my best. My best today looks different from my best this time last year, but I am grateful for the courage to keep moving forward, even at this pace.

I hope you will be focused, encouraged, and proud if your best today looks and feels different from some other time. This present reality is not permanent, and because God is not wasteful, even this will work for your good!

So, cheers to doing our best!

If this resonated with you, or you know someone it would resonate with, please share this note with love.

Also, I would love to hear how your best is showing up in this new year.

Until next time, I am sending you love, Love, LOVE!

Sincerely,  

Delanea D Davis, Hope Strategist