Some of you may know that I have a tattoo on the back of my neck. Most people don’t. It’s not always visible with my long hair and collared work shirts. There are very few people who know anything about it’s meaning. The tattoo is of a labyrinth. Often times someone will see it and say, “what’s that? A maze? Should I get a sharpie and draw on it? Bet I can figure it out!” I won’t comment on their ignorance, because by definition, they simply don’t know. Read all about the history of labyrinth walks here Walking a Labyrinth. When I started walking labyrinths at a church in North Carolina, it was a very transformational meditative process. So there is only one way in, one way out. When I followed the path to the center I would look at my life story and all the moments that I felt defined me. The vanity. The pain. The failures. The successes. The fullness. The lack. All the way back to the center. The original me that was created by God. I would sit there in the center in silence remembering who I am. Who I am not. Who I was created to be. Who I want to be. I would separate the truth from the lies. Then, on the path back out, it’s amazing how I would see the exact same life events differently. From a different perspective. No matter all the things in my life story that could give me reason to be hateful, bitter, sad, depressed, angry, vengeful, I have the power to choose what will define me and who I am. Period. No one can take that choice away from me. I can use it responsibly to fulfill all my dreams, or I can squander it. It’s nobody’s fault but mine. That’s why I put the tattoo of the labyrinth on my body. It is that much a part of who I am. I never want to forget that I choose who I am everyday. So today’s advice for beating the Abominable Winter Blues is to remember that you define you, not the weather!
Sunrise 7:04
Sunset 6:41
Wake up temp don’t know
