My cup is full. This weekend I have been poured into by so many (for my upcoming birthday this week🤫). From a quick get away with friends, dinner last night with my parents, sisters and their husbands, to a family hike today, I am filled to the brim💝
I am so full of love and joy all I want to do is love on others.
I share this with you because some of you may be feeling full too yet others of you may be feeling empty (please know I’ve been there too).
No matter where you fall on that spectrum today, I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
If you are feeling full like I am currently, may we take this love and joy and pour it towards others through our words and actions so others can experience the love of God through us. Yet if you are feeling empty, I hope that someone pours love your way, and you receive it, even if it’s in the simplest form such as a smile.
And for all of us, may we always remember there is a source that will fill us with love, anytime, anywhere, and that is God. May we allow His unfailing, abundant love to be poured into our hearts so we may be full, lacking nothing. And with that fullness may we be a vessel of love, pouring into others hearts throughout our days💞
With love and hope,
Shawn
P.S. and if you’re wondering how to get that love from God, when I started my journey to live from the inside out, I simply asked God if he was there and went from there😊🙏💕
Wisdom in Nature
No leaf has ever said to another, “I am better than you” nor has one tried to harm another.
No, they grow together, beside one another, and they fall together. And our world is more beautiful because of their differences. Even after they fall, they provide richness to our soil for more goodness to grow in the future.
May we see the wisdom nature provides us, and put it into practice ourselves.
With love and hope,
Shawn
Have a "Fort Nite"
Last night I had a “fort nite”😉 with my youngest and slept under my dining room table.
Why?
Because loving someone else isn’t always comfortable. You show up and you do things you don’t want to do because they want to do it. You let go of your desires to share in theirs.
Yes, I woke up a number of times throughout the night and my body is a bit achy this morning. But I will get more sleep tonight, the aches will heal but this memory will last forever.
I share this with you in case sometime someone you love asks you to do something that doesn’t interest you. I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
And choose to say yes on the outside even if on the inside your answer is no. Lay down your comfort and desires to show up for them. A simple choice like this will speak volumes into our loved ones hearts. They will know we are there for them, and only them, and it will be a memory captured together for a lifetime.
With love and hope,
Shawn
Send Love
On my morning walk with Georgia I saw these kindness rocks someone scattered along the trail, as they do every season💝
I share this today because I want to remind you that there are people sending love and kindness to others in this world.
I hope you’ll join me and...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
May we give thanks for the people who choose to send love to others. And may we too choose today to be someone who will live out love towards others💕🙏💕
With love and hope,
Shawn
Do What Matters Most (in the end)
As he laughed with his friends, he didn’t realize I was soaking up every moment beside him💝
My to do list and work I had planned yesterday are waiting for me today. They are always waiting for me. The opportunity to be a chaperone for my son’s first grade field trip won’t always be available to me.
I share this with you today in case you are in you are like me and can get stuck in your habitual patterns with your schedules and routines.
I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
May we take a step back from our routines/schedules and ask ourselves if there is someone we need to show up for today. May we lay down what can be done tomorrow and show up for that person today.
And may we give thanks for these moments and memories, that in the end we will remember more than what was on our to do list today anyways💕🙏💕
With love and hope,
Shawn
It's the Simple Things...
This was my Friday night. I sat beside my family, I listened to them laugh and made another memory simply being present with them.
There are so many opportunities for us to get up and go places together, and there are so many experiences I look forward to having beside my crew. Yet my favorite place with them will always be our time gathered together at home; around our table, in our family room, or in our yard.
I share this with you today as a reminder that the small things make a big difference in our relationships.
I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
May we enjoy the experiences we get with our loved ones outside the home. Yet may we always make time for the simple moments that bring such joy to our hearts and build strong relationships, like a low key Friday night on the couch.
With gratitude and love,
Shawn
The Survivor's Pause
This is my current reality.
I am back in Boston for the day. Another three month check up which includes chest ct scan, head and neck mri and meetings with my surgeon, radiation oncologist, oncologist and my obturator doctor.
A friend asked me yesterday how I was doing with this day on the horizon.
My response?
“I just am.”
What does that mean?
I don’t walk overconfidently into these appointments expecting I will definitely receive good news.
Yet I don’t walk in dreading that I will be told that I have cancer again. I know fear and worry won’t make the truth unfold any sooner but when they call my name, which they naturally do, I whisper back that they aren’t welcome with me at these appointments.
So I lay on the tables during the scans, I move from one chair to another, and I wait...and wait...and wait...
I share this today because this isn’t just my story. I write these words for every cancer survivor out there whose life gets interrupted every three, six, or twelve months for a day, or a week, when our lives need to pause for our scans.
We are reminded that cancer has been part of our story, and we hope it remains part of the past.
Yet the truth is we don’t know the outcome until it is spoken to us.
So we wait doing our best to show up for life, but that looks and sounds different for all of us.
What can you do for us?
Pause. Breathe. Pray. And simply sit beside us, whether near or far, and just be with us. You don’t need to try and make it better. Just walk beside us listening to our hearts if we choose to speak and accept our silence if that’s what we have to offer. And those messier moments of us being on edge, please don’t take it personally. Instead please meet us with great love and compassion as it’s what we truly need. We would really appreciate that.
And to every survivor waiting...
Please know you are not alone and you are being wrapped in love as you wait💕🙏😘
With love and hope,
Shawn
**I just received my results and my scans are clear💝 I am extremely grateful yet I know someone received the opposite results today so I hope you’ll join me in keeping those who have to fight (again) in our thoughts and prayers💕🙏💕
Simply Joys
🍂A little leaf pile fun warmed my heart this weekend🍂
It truly is the little things that bring us joy or as @CandacePayneOfficial says, it is the #simplejoys
If you aren’t familiar with Candace, you may know her better as #chewbaccamom Her video left our family belly laughing in our kitchen, as it has over a hundred million of its viewers. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the link below!
I am excited to share that Candace is coming in November to a local church and I was invited to be the emcee for the weekend!
If you will be CT November 9th or 10th, visit the link below to learn more about this women’s fall gathering. I hope you are able to join us for dinner on Friday, or brunch on Saturday, each followed by a talk with Candace focused on celebrating life’s 🍂Simple Joys🍂
And before you go, I invite you to join me to... Pause. Breathe. Pray.
And let’s think of five simple joys in our life💕🙏😊 Here are mine:
1. Holding hands with my husband
2. Being able to kiss my kids goodnight
3. Walk and tea dates with family/friends
4. Crisp fall air
5. My hands wrapped around a warm mug while snuggled in a soft blanket.
What are five of yours?
List them in your head or feel free to share them here😊 Either way, I hope you embrace these simple joys today💝
With gratitude and hope,
Shawn
Candace’s website:
Candace’s video visit:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y3yRv5Jg5TI
For tickets visit:
Reach Out Off the Island
Recently on a tea and walk date with a friend we went to a local lake. We sat and spoke, we walked around and appreciated the beauty around us. Our conversations are full of truth and honest reflections with one another as we encourage one another to grow more into the person we were made to be.
I took these three pictures while we were there. As I scrolled through my camera recently, these three pictures in particular popped out and spoke to me.
So many of us can feel like we are on an island in life, disconnected from others. Although we may be surrounded by others throughout our days, we can mentally or physically place ourself on an island, separating ourselves from connecting with others.
If you are feeling isolated and alone right now, I invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
May we create a bridge from our heart to someone else’s. May we reach out, and let someone else in. May we come together in person, sit beside one another, talk, listen, and expose the truth of our heart. May we meet others, and be met with a reflection of God’s loving kindness to help heal our hearts and help us move forward. May we get off the island and get re-engage in life.
Life and time are too precious to remain on that island so let’s begin today and take a step on to that bridge...
With love and hope,
Shawn
#worldmentalhealthday
Some people see me where I am now and think I’ve always stood on solid ground. The truth is, I have had to journey through anxiety and depression in life to get where I am today. In honor of #worldmentalhealthday here is an excerpt from my book, My Journey to Live from the Inside Out, that shines a light on the heaviness one can feel when weighed down in depression.
Please remember, if you are in a low place, you are never alone. Reach out to someone, a loved one, a friend, call 2-1-1, etc. Invite someone into the struggle with you. There are people waiting to walk beside you through this...and I am living proof there can be another side to the struggle.
And for those who don’t understand it, you don’t need to. Simply choose to love and listen.
“Never look down in someone else unless you are helping them up.”
With love and hope,
Shawn