Life is a gift. Love is the point.

How often do you just stop to feel?

To feel your heart beating in your chest and the blood flowing throughout your entire body.

To feel the hair blowing in the soft breeze and the warmth of the sun on your skin.

To feel the breath of the person you love on your shoulder as you drift off to sleep in one another arms.

How often do you stop to listen?

To listen to the sounds of the birds, the leaves rustling in the wind, or the laughter of the people around you.

To listen..and to truly hear the depth in the words when the most important people in your life look you directly in the eye and say "I love you."

To really listen to the words being spoken to you. To hear the words being spoken without the added perception and story that you're subconsciously interjecting into it.

How often do you stop to soak it all in and just be? How often do you stop what you're doing and take a pause to be present and sit with the life that you have created and the person that you are?

I have an ongoing gratitude and appreciation for my life and the people in it. If I'm completely honest, it looks nothing like I though it would. And what I'm learning is that there is no set way of doing or being. There is no right or wrong way of doing life, the only way is my way and the only person it needs to make sense to is me. There has been a slow evolution to this point that I am at in every aspect - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. And throughout that process to get to this present moment, I have done a lot of really great things and also not so great things. With love, there has come pain and loss. With growth, there has come many moments of perceived failure, setbacks, and stagnation. It's been a dance, and a beautiful one that I am truly grateful for.

So today, as I sit here writing this, I am present to the beauty that is life. There is beauty in all of it, even when it cannot be seen, or felt, or heard. It is a gift to live, it is a gift to love.

My plate is full, there is no guarantee in life outside of this present moment that I am living. I can plan, prepare, hope, and dream but all I am guaranteed is this moment. Right here. Right now. I am soaking it in, moment by moment.

Life is a gift. Love is the point. <3

Baby girl Gneiting-Veimau, due to make her debut in April 2022.