My word for 2016 is ATTEND. 

Although I don’t think attending is a superpower, some days I wish it was. On those days, I think if one more person promises that he or she has the superpower to right all wrongs and save US from THEM, I daydream about sticking a pencil in my (or someone else’s) eye. On my better days, however, I choose to acknowledge that while I have no superpowers and am responsible TO the World – I’m not responsible FOR it. I’m responsible FOR my life and how I choose to live it.

To that end, I will attend to what and whom I can. And I’ll remember that I don’t have to attend every argument, drama or political whack-o-doodleness to which I’m invited. Each Sunday, I’ll share something here – an image, a poem, a song or maybe even a story that’s helped me attend to what I can that week.

This has been a roller-coaster week.  It had glorious highs, heart-wrenching lows, with plenty of screams and laughter, as seasoning.  In short, this was a Normal Week.   Several people and things helped me with attending.  The one I’ll share was a reminder from my friend Winston.  Before I share the reminder, I’ll confess that I let myself get into a pretty sad state because I couldn’t be-everywhere-I-wanted-to-be-with-everyone-I wanted-to-share-time-and-space.  And then I let that state become even sadder because it didn’t feel like I was ‘snapping-out-of-it’ fast enough.

So back to Winston’s reminder.  He simply shared something that has helped him a lot lately.  In case you’re ever feeling anything like I was, here it is:

Yep, this is definitely a BGO (blinding glimpse of the obvious), but hey, it’s working.  Asking myself this question is helping me attend who and what’s in front of me.  It’s even helping realize when it’s time to simply put my feet up for a while, breathe and attend to my own body, mind and spirit.

How’s your week been?