Nature mirrors us every day. These are little nudges for us to pay attention to. It’s nature’s way of communicating to us: I see you. I honor you. I want to support you.

Yesterday, I was out for a walk with my pup, Tater. My mind felt out of control. I had listened to a zoom call with a coach I admire and she was encouraging everyone who was on the call to notice where we give away our power and reclaim it. Sounds great, right? We all want to own our power. And, I wouldn’t be much of a coach myself if I didn’t walk my talk.

I admit, this triggered me big time. I give away my power most frequently to the people I love the most – my family. To reclaim it means creating boundaries and changing the way I interact with them. I was already anticipating the backlash and potential ostracism this could bring. I imagined the rejection I might face and the pain was so great I debated remaining in this unhealthy pattern of giving my power away to them.

But, once you know something, you can’t un-know it. I knew I had boundaries to put in place, come what may. This understandably brought up many fears and placed me in a familiar state of nervous system dysregulation. The way this plays out for me is to overthink EVERYTHING and wind up in overwhelm.

I didn’t even remember I was on a walk with Tater until something caught my eye. On the other side of a chain link fence to my left was a heavily wooded area. Nearly touching the ground was the most magnificent, creamy, white southern magnolia flower. It struck me for a few reasons:

1. It was goooooorgeous.

2. It was in an unusual spot so close to the ground.

3. The only way I could have noticed it was if it was close to the ground because my gaze was directed down while I was in overthinking mode.

This magnolia anticipated my arrival and need for her beauty. I opened my heart to her and received this message:

“Remember, you have a choice. What are you choosing to pay attention to in this moment?”

Nature doesn’t elaborate usually. But, I knew what she was saying. Did I want to keep paying attention to the energy sucking thoughts racing around in my head or to the beauty that was all around me? Did I want to pay attention to the stories that told me that things will always be as they’ve always been or to the potential for something new? Did I want to pay attention to the thoughts that made me feel bad or those that felt good?

I’m a work in progress. I heard her message but it took a good night’s sleep before I was able to put her advice into practice. But, I put it in to practice and today, I’m choosing the thoughts that feel good.

It takes practice recognizing the signs. It takes practice understanding what the signs are telling you. It takes practice changing your habits and beliefs.

Nature is patient. She’ll wait for you.