Be a Lighthouse

Dear Sailors,

We already know you are shiny. Your heart is so big and full. You are unique and have needed gifts only you can share. You are inherently enough. You have nothing to prove, you only need to allow yourself to be with grace and compassion. Today I want to encourage you and call you to service. I ask you to be a lighthouse my friends, be a beacon on acceptance and love so others can find their way.

When you choose to live your life fully and authentically it gives others permission through example to do the same. There is so much pressure in this culture to conform. There are finite messages of what “success” looks like. Many have internalized those and live them out without examination. How many people pause to ask themselves: “What does success look like for me? Can I imagine that without cultural expectations? What is the rubric I want to live by?” If you made a list of the values and aspirations you want to live by and put it beside the ones you do, how does it pair up? How congruent is your life to your heart? How in sync are your ideals to your actions? What stops you from living according to your truth? What would you need to do so you can live more fully into your own values?

To be a lighthouse is to ponder, to question yourself and reflect. The more you reflect you shine up the mirrors in the prism of your life. When you can see each piece clearly you have more choice on where to put them. The more you intentionally place those mirrors where they are most in line and balanced to your expression in the world, the farther you can shine. To be a lighthouse is to have integrity and discipline. It is a life of service through care taking your own foundation. You don’t have to run out and rescue a bunch of ships in a storm. You don’t need to sacrifice your safety for others. You just need to take really good care of your lighthouse and shine.

The ships sailing in your harbors, that want to visit your lands, will come. They will navigate their own path, have their own journey. You lead by example. Actions are stronger than words. By you showing your solid foundation and illuminating the terrain you show it is possible to get there. People need inspiration. They need to know they are not alone. They need guidance. Guidance isn’t always about expounding the information you have, providing training and sharing your way. Sometimes it can be those things, when they are asked for or sought out. Just remember: no lighthouse or journey is the same. They need to figure out their own prism layout.

Ultimately true guidance is a solid presence of being. The quality of awareness and action coming together with compassion and kindness. It is being in the moment with full acceptance of what is. It is the discipline of curious exploration and intentional congruence. It is the path of courage and vulnerability. It takes grit and honesty with big doses of gentle loving tenderness. Folks, the most influential guidance is simply fully being and saying with an open heart, “Hey, you can just be you too.”

What a fucking relief. What a gift. To just be.

May we all sail in peace.