WHEN YOU FEEL ANXIOUS ABOUT WHAT'S TO COME

The truth is,
you can only prepare so much.

You can only prepare so much

and then,

there is a point

where you look

to the horizon,

and all of its beauty,
while simultaneously accepting
you do not know
w
hat lies beyond it.

And it is there,

you can choose to believe

in the grace-filled possibility

that the future can still

be meaningful
and life-giving

beyond what you can see.

Even though you have lived through thousands of days before this one, there is no way of knowing what tomorrow looks like. There is no way of knowing what this new season you are in will teach you, even when you feel like you have a good idea.

But I hope even here, you can learn to trust. I hope you can learn to hold your ideas of how things will go a little bit more loosely so that you can allow yourself the room to welcome in whatever you are meant to learn. It doesn’t make you irresponsible if you don’t have a plan for every little thing. It doesn’t mean that you’ll fail if something catches you by surprise. Remember all of the things you have already made it through. Remember the things that surprised you, and also, the things that almost broke you. You may still have a hard time trying to figure out how you made it through that night, or how you survived that season of your life, but what truly matters is that you made it, and you have the courage and strength within you to "make it" again.

So hold your expectations about these new unknowns just a little more loosely. This doesn’t mean that you are lowering your standards. This means that you are making room for what is new, even if it surprises you.

There are far too many people in this world who feel like unless they hold themselves together and have a plan for everything, then they will be considered unworthy, incompetent, or unqualified. Sure, there will be people make you feel this way, and there will circumstances that arise from decisions you did or did not make, but at the end of the day, you are not weak or incompetent for having things in your life that make you say “I don’t know.”

So as you try to make sense of your unknowns, remember that all you have is this present moment. The future will arrive when it is meant to arrive but for now you have this day, this moment, and this breath to work through. For now, you have the space you are sitting in right now to find peace, even though so much is uncertain.

And whenever you are able to do this, I hope you know this is strength. I hope you know it takes courage to slow down and live like this.

Your anxieties about these new unknowns may seem ever-present, but I hope you know that peace is ever-present too. So take heart. Breathe in. And let that breath go. Let go of the expectations of how you think the future should be. Let this be a season of surrendering, trusting, and believing that no matter what tomorrow looks like, and no matter what does or does not go according to plan, you are still right where you need to be...on the journey, looking toward the horizon, finding that perhaps, on the other side of it, life can still be meaningful.

(This post here is an excerpt from the Storyteller App series called "Breath by Breath", available to download for iOS and Android! Phone wallpapers, journal prompts, affirmations and more included. Free trial - no credit card required.)

Sincerely,
Morgan
@thestorytellerco
@morganharpernichols