Marilyn Vancil::Being Your Best Self

On January 6th, we had the pleasure of hearing from Marilyn Vancil. In this New Year, she forced us to slow down, close our eyes, and explore what it means to be in touch with our hearts and true desires. Through reflection, her exercises, and the table discussion, I daresay some of us discovered qualities we didn't know we had, or ones we thought were long-gone that we want to reclaim in 2015.

Exercise:
Take time to close your eyes, tune in to yourself, and reflect. What are some desires you have for 2015? Not the circumstantial goals (i.e. lose weight, get a bigger house, etc.), but the desires of your heart. Think of "alive words" such as: courage, contentment, peace, renewal (i.e. something you can experience in your everyday life).

Complete this sentence: "I desire to experience a little more__________."

Hold onto and keep in touch with your desires this season. It's all-too-easy to lose them and get lost at sea. Then we can't answer this question: "What's my true identity outside of/besides being a wife & mother?

There will come a time of quiet, of empty-nesting and reconnecting with yourself in a new way. And we won't want to be far from who we are and who we want to be.

The demands of life threaten to take over who we are at the heart. SO how do we recapture our true selves? 

• Connect with something
• Something grand. Majestic. Life-giving.
• Live into it in 2015! 

Things to think about:

• What are the qualities that show up when you're at your best?
• What to other people say about you at your best?
• What qualities are attractive in others (this can help say a lot about you)?
• What name could you give this woman who is your "best self," that best captures the essence of who she is?
• What is one thing you could do to allow her to be present in your life?
• How much is she showing up in your life already, on a scale of 1-10?
• How would this affect your role as a mother?