Dear Radiant Heart,
What a beautiful moment you are standing in right now. A brand new day. Another chance to try again. The opportunity to choose what your heart desires. Do not take this tiny moment for granted.
What makes being human beautiful is that we are all uniquely different. There are things that come naturally to you. You show up and do them exceptionally well without even having to think about it. These are your strengths and make up your divine spirit.
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Dear 18 Year Old Self,
I know that you are wise and strong. I see how hard you try. In standing where I am today and knowing what I know now there are some things I want to share with you.
I invite you to show up to life and be ok with making mistakes. We all make them, it is a part of growing and learning. Do not be so hard on yourself. Life is about falling down and finding your way back up again.
Keep an open mind and open heart. Listen when others speak. Allow them a chance to express their own beliefs and opinions before you jump in. Even though you may not agree with what they have to say you may learn something.
But don’t let others opinions jade your own. Stand in your truth, especially when you know in your core what is right for you. Follow your heart, it will never steer you wrong.
Life can only be tackled one moment at a time. Don’t worry about the final outcome. Just make the next right move.
You know that desire that is burning in your heart? Go after it with everything you got. Never give up on your dreams. Chase them, chase them, and continue chasing them until you make them happen.
How you choose to speak to yourself is so important. Your words have energy. What you speak you invite into your life. Choose words of love, kindness, and compassion.
Get plenty of sleep but also enjoy those late nights chatting with friends or snuggling with your significant other. And speaking about friends never ditch them for the person your dating. Your friendships are important but in order for them to continue to flourish you need to make time and tend to them.
Savor the little moments that make you laugh so hard your side hurts. Try new things. See new places. Meet new people. Stay open to life. And remember, people aren't mind readers. You have to tell them what you are thinking.
I know that you are going to do great things in this world. Keep reaching for the stars and sharing your smile. The world wants to see you shine!
xoxo
Jennifer
These words were inspired from the first writing prompt of the Love Notes Postcard Project. I had participants to share with each other what they would tell their 18 year old self knowing what they know now. It is amazing that the words our 18 year old self may need to here you may also need right now in this moment. Life is cyclical. You are constantly reminded of the lessons you need to learn again and again.
This was me at 18 years old. I thought I knew it all. I was ready to take on the world, yet I had no idea what the world had in store for me.
I didn’t know that I would fall to my knees more times than I can count. That my heart would break over and over and over. That I would get lost, make terrible choices and be unsure of where to go next. I had no idea how hard it would be.
But I also didn’t know that I would have strength to stand back up again. I would do things I never thought possible. I would meet the most incredible people and have the most epic experiences. I would carve my own path. I would find my way back to myself and I would stand tall in who I am.
Life has this way of pushing you to your limits. Making you stand in the uncomfortable. Forcing you to make tough decisions. In order to thrive you have to learn who you are and what you believe in. You have to stand up for yourself even when others don’t agree.
It easy to look back and see what you could have done better. But what matters most is where you are right now and what that next right step is. Choose joy. Choose love. Choose YOU!
Pull out your notebook and write a letter to your 18 year old self. What would you want them to know. What lessons have you learned along the way that you think could help then on their journey?
Share in the comments what you would tell your 18 year old self as there is someone out there who may need these words as well.
Do you remember that first day back to school in September? Your teacher would ask you what you did over summer vacation. He or she giving you just a brief moment to summarize everything that happened. But how can you do that in one quick second?
My heart is filled with summertime stories. The types of stories that included sun kissed skin, melting ice cream, and lots of fresh air. There were all sorts of adventures and traveling down unexplored roads. Late night giggles, lots of sunshine, and feeling the sand between my toes.
It was a summer I want to hold onto. A summer filled with love, adventures, and traveling down unknown roads. It was an opportunity to let go of the everyday routine and allow my heart to lead me where I wanted to go.
I am grateful for all baseball games. The many days at the beach. Sinking deep into yoga and finding my way back to meditation.
I am grateful for the brilliant colors this world shows up with. Epic sunsets in the most stunning orange hues. Brilliant blue skies and white puffy clouds.
Adventure awaits around every corner. It will not come knocking. You need to go after it. There is beauty out there just waiting for you to experience it.
But sometimes you just need to stay where you are and sink deep into slowing down. My front porch was a welcome invitation. It provided me a space to journal, read, and deeply breathe in the fresh air. Time on my porch is like medicine for my soul.
There were books. So many books devoured. 'Marrow: A Love Story' by Elizabeth Lesser ... 'Secrets in Summer' by Nancy Thayer ... 'How to Walk Away' by Katherine Center.... were just a few. I became best friends with the library again, spending time writing there and exploring the shelves.
There was live music, new restaurants, fish caught, weights lifted, time babysitting, sand castles built. Many baseball games, a foot ball game, a golf tournament. It was the summer of epic adventures.
As it comes to a close I want to remember to savor it all. All to often I am moving quickly from one thing to the next that I do not take a proper moment to celebrate and appreciate what was. There is lots to appreciate about this past summer.
And so I am heading out to my front porch with my journal and taking some time to reflect on all that was. The memories, the feelings, the taste, the sounds. The beauty and delight. Laughter and tears. Heart expanding moments and road blocks that forced me to push through. I want to remember it all. To stand in glory of the goodness as well as the the shaky uncomfortable ground. All of it makes up what this epic summer was.
I invite you to not let the feelings slip away to quickly. Take a moment to reflect. You don't jut have to do this alone in your notebook. Get those you love involved as well. Around the dinner table ask everyone to share their favorite summer memory. Ask them what summer taught them. Their answeres may surprise you.
My top five summer memories are?
The feeling I do not want to forget from this summer is . . .
One thing I learned this summer is ...
You are the one carving out the road before you. You decide where you are going to go, who you are going to take along on the journey, and when you are going to stop to admire the view. Yes, you are the one holding the map and choosing the final destination.
As I stand on this unknown ground I been savoring the moments I would not have had the opportunity to enjoy had I been working. This has been an epic summer. Exploring different places, spending time with family, and finding new roads to go down on my bike. So many memories created and tucked inside my heart.
But then there is this little voice inside my head reminding me that I have yet to get a job. It makes me doubt my worth, doubt my skills, doubt my ability. I wonder why it is that I haven't heard back from places. Why I didn't get a chance at the ones I really wanted. And what is it that my future holds. The negative self talk has been fierce.
I need to shut down the negativity in my head and remind myself of my worth. No one really knows what they are doing. We all tend to make it up as we go along. What matters most is the willingness to put yourself out there and take a chance. I am proud of myself for the chances I have taken but also know that there is so much more that I want to go after.
I need to stand tall with my head held high and my shoulders back. To speak with confidence. To believe in my gut that I can do whatever it is I put my mind to.
Taking a moment to sit down and write who I am reminded me of all I have to offer. I am an asset. I am ready to learn, grow, and develop into my next iteration. We all have iterations of ourselves and throughout our lives they reveal themselves.
There was a time in my life when I was the shy quiet kid just trying to blend into the background. Over time I grew more into myself as I learned who I truly was. I am still learning and know that it will be an ongoing lesson.
I love unearthing where I want to go as I listen close to my hearts deepest desires. I want my front porch to continue to be my office. I want to help people step into their own light. I want to create and cultivate community. I know that I can do this. I just need to keep taking risk's and stepping forward. I also need to ditch the negative self talk and speak those kind words that I know to be true.
And so I am taking my I Am statements and writing each one down on a slip of paper. Each morning as I sit in front of my alter and write that days intention I will read these words out loud. Reading them out loud will help imprint them on my heart.
Sometimes we needed to be reminded of how amazing we really are. Be compassionate with yourself and give yourself that reminder.
Who are you? I invite you to write down your own I AM statements. Be bold, be kind, be brave with your writing and really share who you are in all of your radiant glory.
Share a few of your I AM statements in the comments so that I can celebrate who you are, exactly as you are!
When my mom was really sick I remember standing in line at the coffee shop in a complete daze. The world was spinning around me and everyone was moving at a rapid pace; the same pace I used to move in before I heard the words stage four cancer. On the outside it may have looked like I had it all together, but on the inside I was crumbling. As people buzzed around me they had no idea that my life was changing forever.
We move through life so quickly. We live in our own little bubbles. We feel sometimes that we are the only ones suffering, the only ones fighting to take that next step forward, the only ones with a wide open gash in our heart. But the truth of the matter is we are not the only ones. We all struggle, we all suffer, we all need to figure out how to take the next step.
Writing was a huge part of helping me heal through my mom's death. I filled many pages of my journal and also shared some of my writing publicly on my blog. My words were raw and honest. I consciously choose not to censor them. It was through this vulnerability that I invited others in. Individuals reached out with love, they shared their own stories, and provided a simple acknowledgment for what I was going through.
I had also created a private email list with a small group of family and friends that I would write to. Having this outlet helped me process a lot of the feelings I was struggling with. It was a safe space for me to spill open. I wrote about my fears, my memories, my sadness, and my pain. This small group of individuals held these words close and gave me space to heal in my own time.
After my mom's death I began writing letters to her. I have a special notebook dedicated to this. I tell her about the latest things that are going on. Give her the gossip and the inside scoop. I share with her more in those letter than I ever had when she was here. Writing these letters gives me an opportunity to continue to connect with her.
Writing seems like such a simple thing, but putting words onto paper is cathartic and opens the gate to your heart. The page gives you space to spill open and just be. It never once judges what you put on it and that is an incredible gift. You are the one who chooses if you share it or not. You can rip it up, burn it, or let others read what you have wrote. You are the keeper of your words.
When you write you open up the gate to your heart and give yourself a little bit of breathing room. You can spill about your past or dream about your future. You decide where the pen is going to go.
I have been writing ever since I was small. It has been so long that I don't even know what life was like before I found the page. I carry a notebook with me everywhere I go and spill the contents of my heart into it. The pages aren't filled with pretty writing or the most eloquent of words but they are filled with my deepest desires, my worries and fears, list of places I want to visit, dreams I hope to one day accomplish, ramblings of things I didn't know I needed to work through, and moments of love and happiness.
I don't know who I would be if I didn't have the opportunity to figure it out on the page. Writing is an outlet for me that helps me untangle everything that get's twisted. It is my saving grace when I feel off kilter and overwhelmed. It provides me sanity, connection, and a chance to be compassionate with myself. I know that writing has save my life time and time again.
It wasn't just during my mothers death that I turned to writing but every day before that and every day since. I write through the daily stresses of showing up in life. Through those feelings of not feeling good enough, doing enough, being enough.
The page is a tool
helping me heal, grow, and expand.
Through my years of writing I have learned how to dig in and get to the heart of the matter. How to put the ego aside and allow the truth to spill open with compassion rather than criticism. I have different prompts that I use when I don't know what to write and tools that help me show up again and again.
I want to share all of this with YOU!
I want you to know that you do not have to walk this journey alone. We can do it together! I am here to hold your hand and walk beside you. We can do so much more when we do it together.
I offer two separate One-on-One mentoring programs.
One is an opportunity to dip your toe in the water through daily writing prompts delivered to your inbox for one week.
The prompts will be tailored just for you based on what you want to work on or through.
If you want to dive in deeper we can work together for a month. I will hold up the mirror for your so you can see how amazing you are as you work through different writing prompts, creative excursions, and secret missions.
This program is created based upon what you want to work on.
I know that writing heals. Spilling your own words and reading the words of others can open you up in a way that you never expected. It is a beautiful gift that we are able to easily give ourselves.
I remember one time sitting in the library writing about one thing but as I kept writing my heart took over and the words spilled into another direction completely. What began as complaints about my struggles at work ended up being a complete heart opening about a previous relationship I was in. These feelings were tucked deep into my heart. I didn't even realize that there was so much I had yet to work through. But the page knew and gave me the space to work through it.
Let's set free what you no longer need to carry around. Let's give a voice to those dreams that want to come true. Let's put your deepest desires into motion.
It is time for you to claim your life. Let's begin by taking it to the page and unearthing what you truly desire!
It would be an honor and a privilege to work with you.
Have a question? Please feel free to reach out to me at jennifer@jenniferbelthoff.com.
open your heart & share your story
Hello I'm Jennifer! A writer, podcaster and heart-centered guide. I believe in the power of the written word and am here to guide you in opening your heart.
