EPISODE 122

THE DARING ROMANTICS

Hello my friends — and welcome to episode number 122 of the Daring Romantics with Lindsey Eryn. and, I’m Lindsey Eryn.

I was just writing an email and it literally dawned on me that we are in the middle of the year! We are officially in the middle of the year — which is so crazy to me because I feel like this year has gone by so fast, and so slow, all at the same time, and it’s also wild to me that we’ve been quarantined for 3 months. Who would have thought. Wild.

Anyways, I am not going to lie, I have been feeling all of the feels lately — and, I’m sure that you’re sitting there, wherever you are, in your car, in your kitchen, in your bedroom, saying — “me too.”

because honestly, if you haven’t been feeling the feels lately, I question if you’re even human — honestly. because there has been a lot of activity in the world lately, and there’s no denying it. and, you literally would have to be up in the mountains with no internet to not realize what’s happening and for it to not affect you in some capacity. And quite frankly, the last two weeks — it’s been really hard to function! It’s been really hard to step forward. and it feels like even the easiest things, even the simple little tasks that I’m supposed to be doing everyday feel hard and they feel heavy. and, I think that’s valid.

Because it would be odd if there was no change in posture, or if there was no effect — you know — again, like I said, it’s human. it’s human to feel those things, it’s humans to be affected by what’s going on in the world — spirit, mind, and body. we would be completely disconnected if we didn’t feel something, if we didn’t have empathy or Compassion or feel broken-hearted over situations happening in our world.

And, to a degree — those things are good. it’s good to feel those things. it’s good to encounter these types of situations because they help us to grow stronger, they help us to advance forward, and they help us to progress.

But at the same time — the heaviness, it can be too much sometimes. and lately that’s a little bit what I’ve been feeling — like the heaviness is too much.

I went on a walk earlier this week, and, as I was walking, I was looking at the ground. and it was super muddy from the rain and from sprinklers, and the path was really uneven from people walking to and from and dogs, and they were piles of mud in different places, and everything was just disheveled.

and, as I was walking, I was like — man, if this isn’t life right now, then I don’t know what it is! you know — like, this feels like life, like I said earlier this week, I feel like I’m trudging through mud — everything is just so much harder than it ought to be, or then I’m used to it feeling like.

and I was walking, and literally walking on mud, I felt this still, small voice tell me to “look up!” and so, I look up, I take my eyes off of the ground, and I look up, and I just see the most beautiful scene! …of all of these trees creating an arch over the path, and of these purple flowers blooming all around the path. and, of shadows and sunlight sprinkling in. and it was honestly just breathtaking — it was so refreshing and so beautiful!

and I was reminded of the fact that — even though we’re walking through the mud, that there is beauty still all around us — but we have to lift up our eyes in order to see it.

because, our natural tendency as human beings, is to look at our situation, to look at our circumstances, to look at what we’re walking through, and just to focus on that — in the same way, that as I was walking on the path, I kept my eyes looking more towards the ground at where my feet were going, rather than looking at nature all around me.

and, I wasn’t able to change my experience on my walk until I changed my FOCUS — until I took my eyes off of the path, off of where my feet were, off of where I was standing, and lifted them up to what was going on around me.

and as I was walking, I continued to challenge myself to keep my eyes up, to continue looking around me, to continue looking ahead of myself, instead of looking at my feet. and — it was so hard! It was such a conscious effort, because I literally kept on wanting to look at my feet!

I literally wanted to keep on looking three steps in front of me, two steps in front of me — and it was an honest-to-goodness challenge to stay focused on keeping my eyes looking up, keeping my eyes looking forward.

but, I noticed that as I continue to challenge myself to look up, my posture changed!

not just the posture of my heart and my mind, but my physical posture. when I looked up, when I started looking in front of me, instead of at my feet and where my feet were going, my literal posture changed, and I started moving differently. and it made me realize that when we go throughout life — it is so easy for us to look at our current circumstances, and to zone in on that, and, while it’s important to face our reality and to confront reality, we also need to be people of FAITH — looking up, looking forward, looking towards the future, looking to hope.

and, we can’t be looking to hope if we’re looking at our circumstances the whole, entire time.

And, if we continue looking down, then our posture is down, our shoulders are hunched over. but when we look up, our shoulders are pushed back and we start moving differently in the world — we start moving with purpose and intention, and confidently.

and that’s the same thing that happens when we begin to look up in the proverbial realm — when we decide to look up in our circumstances, not just on the actual path that were walking through, but when we start looking up, looking forward, we start moving with CONFIDENCE — knowing that, yeah, we may not be in the best season, we may not be in the easiest season, we may not be in the fluffiest, lightest, most easy-going season, but we’re going to be okay — because there’s still beauty all around us, and there’s still a hope and a future for us.

and one of the things that I was noticing as I was walking, was that there was shade, there was a covering, there were all these trees covering the path. and it made me realize, that even here in this moment, when we’re walking through such a place of uncertainty as a country, as a nation, as individuals, as business owners, as friends, as neighbors — there’s still a covering over us, protecting us, and shielding us, and guarding us.

but if our eyes are focused on the ground, if our eyes are focused on our circumstances, on the news, on what the media is saying, on what is happening all around us, or what we’re feeling, and we don’t ever lift up our eyes — then we missed the fact that there is actually a covering over us.

that there’s actually still protection and shade. that there’s trees that are guarding the path. and for me, that’s a representation that the Goodness of Life — that God is still there, that even though we’re walking through the mud, that there is a covering of God over our lives and over our businesses and over our futures. but will miss seeing that and experiencing it, if we don’t look up. if we keep our eyes so focused in on what we’re going through.

another thing that I noticed as I was walking — was that when you lift up your eyes, it’s no longer about what you’re walking through, but what you’re walking towards.

because my eyes were no longer looking at the ground a couple steps in front of me, I was no longer thinking about the fact that I was walking through mud. but, I was looking up, seeing that I was walking towards Something Beautiful, Something breathtaking, something refreshing, and something peaceful. and, I don’t know about you, but I needed that change of perspective. I need to realize that it’s not about what we’re walking through — but what we’re walking towards.

because this season, as a whole, has not been fun. it is been challenging, it is been truth-telling, it has been refining. but I wouldn’t describe it as fun. and, it’s really easy to just be focused on what we’re walking through, because the reality of that is all around us. It’s on Instagram, is on the news, it’s in our emails, it’s everywhere, it’s in our conversations — the reminder of what we’re walking through, is everywhere we look and everywhere we turn. And so, it’s up to us, to change that perspective, realizing that, yeah, we can see it as walking through something, and if we view it as that, it may be a little bit heavier — or we can view it as we’re walking towards something — we’re walking towards a better tomorrow, we’re walking towards a better future, we’re walking towards progression, we’re walking towards equality, we’re walking towards Justice, we’re walking towards a better definition of normal. we’re walking towards a more peaceful and United era.

and so — for me, I’m choosing to switch how I see things. and instead of constantly saying, “yeah, this is what we’re going through as a nation…” I want to change my language to say, “yeah, this is what we’re walking towards — we’re walking towards a better tomorrow.” and that has hope in it! and when you start thinking about what you’re walking towards, you can’t help but be hopeful! you can’t help but have hopeful eyes. you can’t help but have faith for the future, believing that there is something better — because you’re looking forward instead of right where you are — in a muddy, messy, uncomfortable situation.

and I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to look at something all day, if I’m going to focus on something all day, then I would rather it be something beautiful, than something messy and muddy. Because Something Beautiful is going to give me energy and hope and joy — but constantly looking at something muddy and messy, is just going to make me feel discouraged.

and again — I’m not saying that we don’t confront reality. that’s not what I’m saying. but I am saying there has to be balance. yes, it’s good to know what’s going on in the world, it’s good to be aware of facts, it’s good to be aware of what is happening in society. but I’m also saying — we need to fix our eyes on faith. we need to fix our eyes on hope. we need to fix our eyes on the future. because if we’re just fixated on the here and now and how we feel and what’s going on, then we’re going to make it really hard on ourselves to move forward towards the future.

and I don’t know about you, but as a business owner and an individual, I want to lead people towards a better future, I want to lead people to a better tomorrow.

and so — that’s deciding to lift my eyes up and stop letting the focus of my day be what is happening around me. but to move forward with hopeful eyes, looking forward towards the future, redefining how we move and walk — Walking with a posture of confidence, walking with a posture of faith.

because it takes Faith to not look at the ground, and to keep your eyes on the horizon.

so yeah, that’s all I got. just a reminder that we are walking towards something.

yes, we can see it as we’re walking through something, but if you view it like that, it’s just going to be a really long and gruesome journey.

But — if you view it as you’re walking towards something, I think that something changes with inside of us and there’s a lightness, because we know that this isn’t forever. we know that this is just a moment in time, and that we’re walking towards a better tomorrow — towards a better future, towards something beautiful.

so that’s my challenge: as you walk throughout life, as you walk throughout this season, to lift up your eyes, to look around you, and see that there is beauty still blossoming, that good things are still happening. To take on the posture of confidence, knowing that you’re walking towards something. and to be at peace, knowing that the goodness of life is on your side, protecting you and guarding you, shielding you, and making sure that no matter what happens, you won’t lose your step, you won’t falter, you won’t fail.

The goodness of life is like that arch of trees — providing shade for you, and making the scene around you beautiful. So, lift up your eyes — there is beauty emerging all around you, my friend.

now get on your way, and let’s make some magic this week.

Hi friend! thanks so much for tuning in to this week’s episode of The Daring Romantics. It honestly means so much that you would spend a couple minutes of your day with me. if you missed the memo, I recently launched an app called peptalks. you can find it in the Apple App Store, searching “peptalks by Lindsey Eryn.”

and this app is exactly what it sounds like — it is a gold mine of inspiration, of words of Hope, with daily peptalks, affirmations that are pushed to your phone throughout the day, and words of hope that are sent to you every single evening. so, if you haven’t already — go download it in the Apple App Store. it’s only $0.16 a day, and definitely worth the investment, because it’ll leave you feeling full of Hope, full of courage, and full of peace as you Journey throughout your day. download it in the Apple App Store! Again, search “peptalks by Lindsey Eryn.”