Publisher - June 2020

Don’t be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin.
— Grace Hansen –

Life is full of surprises, and 2020 has been the ringmaster for them. For all you who have read “The Help,” or seen the movie, you will be able to relate to a funny, yet oh-so-true, meme I saw. It has a picture of Minny Jackson standing at Hilly Holbrook’s door with her famous chocolate s#!t pie. The meme reads: If 2020 were a pie!

Lord, Child, don’t you know it. Year 2020 has force fed us more than our fill of Minny’s secret ingredient. While we just ALL experienced one of the most jaw-dropping, unbelievable times in modern day history, I have to admit silver linings still abound. I also confess I have wished a time or two that the world would just stop for a week or two so I could catch up. Well, ain’t that a wish made in Heaven? Be careful what you ask for… and I didn’t catch up.

Nonetheless, it is time to move forward. I’m not recommending forgetting the whole thing happened, but some forward movement has to break the holding pattern. It’s up to each one of us as to where we plan to land. Things are different now, even if we don’t want them to be. We all have changed in some way—small shifts or large leaps. Some are more fearful, some are less. Some are ready to escape the trenches, while others feel safer there. For me, I am looking forward to celebrating June as the New Year. I may even make a resolution or two, because if nothing else, this pandemic has changed the way I want to live—and feel—in my daily life. Here are a few things I’m strongly pondering:

No. 1 is my health: I have been cavalier with my health—eaten more sweets and fried food than I should, overworked my body in workouts, consistently weighed in on the heavy side most of my adult life, and I haven’t been diligent about getting enough sleep. In other words, I’m a typical American, who takes my health for granted until there’s a problem. Well, there’s a problem. I hurt my back and got introduced to real pain, excruciating pain, crying out loud pain. What’s that ringing? Oh! It’s the wakeup call to honor my body as my temple. I am officially onboard. I want to have the freedom and prosperity good health affords for a very long time. Plus, we all just had a front row seat to seeing the coronavirus take down those with compromised immune systems. If you didn’t believe it before, you certainly can now: Good health is the greatest wealth.

Being at home for me was a double-edged sword. I enjoyed some spare time, and yet wasted a lot of time, too. I wish I knew then, on the first day of lockdown, what I know now; I would change the way I spent my days. It seems that once again, hind sight is 20/20. Nonetheless, I have gained direction and verve during my “incoronaration.” Perhaps I was teetering on burn out, but I’m over that. I am so excited to come back, get going and make a difference—for me, for you, for daily vibes, for love and for extra pumped up gratitude.

But as much as I’m ready to rock-n-roll, I also vow to incorporate gentle rituals into my daily living. My days will no longer look like eat, work, eat, work, eat, work, sleep, repeat. As soon as my back is better—and it’s going to get better—I will continue my daily bike rides, incorporate yoga and stretch into my mornings, read a devotional and write in the mornings. And I will tend to my garden, such that it reflects my new pace, looking refreshed, lush, vibrant and healthy. That’s my goal! (You can always tell how I’m doing by looking if my car is messy or clean, or if my plants are living or dying.)
Many people get to have a career doing what they love, many people don’t and some people don’t work at all. Regardless which category you fall into, we all fall prey to allowing our environment, office climate, parenting style, expectations, attitudes, relationships and every other little nuance to tell us what, when, where and even how to do.

2020 has spoken and revealed we are all the weakest links, and that life as we know it can change in an instant. That makes me want to be sure I’m living life on my terms, so that if it changes again, at least I took the chance to do it my way. Life is good, and life is short. So what if it’s filled with surprises? The great thing about being a human is we can surprise it right back!

Think Pink,
Elizabeth Millen