It wasn't even noon yet, and the gifts I experienced today pretty sweet; quite appropriate for Valentine’s Day. The intention of this blog is to share one of those gifts with you, with hope it's as sweet for you also.

As often happens when I’m in my car driving, a new metaphor came to me this morning. I had been reflecting on emotions. How we get to experience all of them and none of them bad. How each of them show up in our lives; some expected, some surprise guests. Each of them bear a gift of awareness wrapped in a variety of different ways. Some are attractive and we want to play with them. Some aren’t. We get to choose which guests we share the most time with; which gifts we’ll use most. Yet it’s important we acknowledge all of them before choosing.

As an inspirational speaker and perspective trainer, I get to share my experience of life’s surprise party, the gifts I receive and how I go about unwrapping them often. Frequently, I find myself wondering what people think as I express my authentic gratitude and joy. It’s easy for me to be happy when I’m getting to share Jonnae’s life story and mine. It’s natural for me to radiate positive energy and hope when I’m getting to do what I love to do. When audiences aren’t seeing the other emotions I get to experience, how do I let them know I can relate to the not so fun feelings we have. How do I relay to them the manner in which I experience the guests of sorrow and frustration bearing gifts of heartache and struggle?

A new metaphor to aid me in translation came. When we experience a tangle in our hair, we use a comb to work it out and get rid of it. If we don’t, eventually that small tangle will grow into a massive mess, much harder to manage. Once we’ve worked the tangle out, we set the comb down. We don’t carry it around all day, just waiting for another tangle to form. This would hinder the use of our hand in creating or working on something else.

If we don’t work through the nasty feelings or emotions we feel as they arise, they manifest into something much bigger. These guests who aren’t so fun to sit with; the gifts they bring that we didn’t ask for or want, won’t overstay their welcome, if we just deal with them before they take up an unwelcome residence.

There are mornings, I wake up with tangles of emotion that’s are naturally a result of Jonnae’s Leukemia and “Heavenly Birth.” Hair for the most part is beautiful; tangles just come with it. Some beautiful styles are even created with tangled, teased or knotted hair.  ;) I believe the same is true of Jonnae’s, my and all of our life stories. They are beautiful. We get to choose the styles we create with them. Most of the time, we probably won’t want to incorporate tangles, but there may be times we choose to. If tangled isn’t what we want to experience, we get to pick up our emotional, spiritual, perspective combs and work them out before they become a mess. When I’m out enjoying my day, if an unwanted tangle presents itself, I pull out the tools I’m blessed to always have in my possession and work through it on the spot. This is what consistently allows me to create beautiful fun days.

I hope this metaphor blesses you with something that allows you to do the same, should beautiful and fun, and something less messy, be what you desire to create. :D