Since February is the month of “Love” (well, every month is about Love, but if you step into a mall or Hallmark store–you know what I mean!), I wrote a guest post called “What Do You Love?” for my friends at Empoword.

Have you ever noticed how one word can get you into a certain mood? This is the strategy behind Empoword. Their products and services—focused around the ‘words’ in our life—help to strengthen us in our journey.

For example, I have one of their cool window clings up on my bathroom mirror that says “Gratitude.” So when I’m drying my hair each morning and my brain drifts to all kinds of trivial stuff (which it does), the word “Gratitude” always catches me. Instantly, it centers me and helps to remind me how grateful I am to be me, to be healthy, and for the day ahead. Of course, my morning isn’t necessarily always that profound; sometimes the word “Gratitude” simply reminds me to be grateful that I am having a good hair day or that Bill wiped off the counter when he was done. It’s all about the little things!

Back to “Love”: You can check out my post here. Special thanks to Stephanie and Wendy at Empoword for inviting me to write a Love post; but more importantly for helping the world choose positivity by becoming more conscious of the words we use.

What’s the word that helps you stay centered and focused?

For the very first time I have been struggling with writing my next post. I do have two full pages of great topics on following your joy that I am so excited for and can barely wait to write about! But this week I had a hard time finding the inspiration to put words together. Really, it’s a quite simple task, but I was making it too complex and got lost in my head.

And then my dear friend, Liv, magically sent this picture of her adorable little angel toddler, Truman (“Tru,” we call him), in his “JOY” outfit…and everything became clear.

First off, Tru is our godson (lucky us!). The last time Bill and I were with their family, we watched in amazement as Tru went about his little world–full of wonder, curiosity, and awe; in full-out exploration of everything in his surroundings. He threw his head back with full-body giggles when the dog did something goofy. He studied his big brother’s every movement and “Star Wars” poses as though he were learning a new trade. He gazed adoringly at his mom and dad with eyes that said “I love you” like nothing else in the world mattered.

Tru inhaled each breath slowly. He was alert and awake to everything around him. He stopped what he was doing to notice the brilliant flames in the fireplace behind the glass. He danced to the music and looked at each one of us in invitation to join in on the fun.

When it comes to following your joy, I, for one, can learn a lot from Tru. Simplicity is key; we are the ones who make life complicated. Following your joy is about laughing, dancing, being awake to your surroundings, and breathing slowly.

Interesting, isn’t it, how we come into the world having all this stuff figured out, and then as adults we struggle to make our joy a priority?

Thanks to sweet little Tru for reminding me to breathe and that life is generally much easier than we make it. Joy is certainly all around us…if we only take the time to notice it and let it in.

I’ve seen other humble teachers in my life who appear in many forms, just when I’m ready for a lesson. For me, they’ve even come in the form of a butterfly, my lovely grandparents, and a school of dolphins.

Who are the teachers in your life?

These two guys were pretty special in my life. And as we all know, life is fragile; and any of us can make the transition—at any moment—to the next place in life.

Uncle Tom died at age 42 of cancer. Cousin Tommy died at 7 of a rare disease of the immune system. Tom was my godfather; Tommy was my godson.

When I lead classes on effective time management or uncovering life purpose, I pass around a framed version of the photo above. Many of the class participants seem to struggle with just how, precisely, to identify what’s most important in their life with all that they have going on, tugging at them. I always say that when you get down to it, though, it’s not as tough to figure out as one might think.

The sweet picture of my two special guys always drives the message home.

At the core, we all do know what’s important to us. But life gets busy, things get in the way, and we (I’m including myself here) slowly move away from—or tend to lose sight of—the things in life that are dear to us and bring us joy. We might have occasional glimpses of that preciousness of life, but we become too involved and immersed in the details of life to slow down and take notice.

After Tommy died in 1990, I received a card from a friend with this verse written on it:

Each life is indeed a gift.
No matter how short,
No matter how fragile.
Each life is indeed a gift
To be held in our hearts forever.

Let this be a reminder to fully live your life now and follow your joy.

Note: For a truly beautiful book of love letters, written to Tommy by his mom (my Aunt Jane), read A Fistful of Agates.