Things I Know For Sure

I read a post by Amelia over at You Can Always Start Now about the things she knows for sure.  Her inspiration came from Oprah’s book and it got me thinking to myself about the things that I know for sure.  Then, I read another post by Susie over at Susie’s Wild Ride about branding and how what we put out to the world, whether not it is a Facebook post or simply something we say when talking with others, we are making an impression of who we are and what we stand for.

As I lay in bed that night trying to fall asleep, my mind suddenly started filling with all the things that I would want to share and how they should brand me.  So I got up and started writing this post.

It is now three years later and I haven’t written a post on the blog since April. Mostly because my anxiety has been off the charts which means the shortest attention span so I have pretty much relegated my writing and sharing to social media where it is easiest to share other people’s work. And because the job I have now that I love has been a space for putting my call to social justice into action.  But it is time to get going again writing now that summer is over and the world is on fire. And some of it is a good fire.

So, finishing this post seems like a good place to get started again.  Maybe some of these things you too know for sure and maybe some of them you don’t. None of these things should be new if you have been following my blog for the last almost 5 years. If we disagree on most of them, that is okay.

Must Hike Must Eat is an expression of who I am: from hiking stories to paleo recipes to social commentary.  I am not any one thing and I know you are not either. We so want to put people around us into boxes and paint broad strokes. If you are this, then you must be that.

But humans don’t work that way. Life is ambiguous and messy.

So am I.

 

• I am a good cook and I can serve others with my gift.  Cooking for others brings me joy.

• So does writing.

• Change is inevitable. You can fight is all you want but things will still change. Progressive is not a bad word.

• I can never get enough sleep.

• I love the mountains and the beach.

• I have white privilege and racism exists in America. Racism is not confederate flags and n-words. It is not the actions of any one person. It is systems and policies that keep one race above all others. It is overwhelming but not as overwhelming as it is for those who are oppressed by it.  I am affected by racism but not oppressed by it.  As a Christian called to social justice, I will work every day to be anti-racist and it is an imperfect journey.

• I can’t please everyone but I will go to my grave trying. I know I can’t please everyone because then I would not be true to myself but I am still working on being true to myself so there will always be that.

• Stress is a killer. So is anxiety. And depression.

• I have more than I need.  I am blessed.

• Both public education and policing in America need to be fundamentally changed but I don’t want to defund either.

• My heart breaks for so many things.

• There is no one diet that is right for everyone.

• People don’t listen enough. Including me.

• What the world needs is less paperwork and more love. That one comes from Pearl Bailey. 

• There is always at least two sides to every story.  And the truth is closer to the middle.

• Human memory is flawed and biased.

• Gratitude changes our brain chemistry.

• Veganism will not save the planet.

• No matter how good liver and beets are for me, they will always taste gross.

• My life does not need a suggestion box. That one is Elizabeth Gilbert

• Love is always the right answer.  Love can look like many different things but if it is sincere it is always right.

• We will only get through this together.

• I am an emotional eater.  No matter how healthy I eat, food will always be sought out in times of stress.  It will be “healthy” but not always necessary.

• I know that the undocumented people I have had the privilege to know, work with and call friends are some of the most honest, hard working, sacrificing people I know.  And I would gladly have them as my neighbors over US citizens filled with entitlement and ingratitude for the privileges they take for granted.

• There is more good in this world than bad.   But the bad makes for better headlines and clickbait.

• We could all do a better job at assuming the best of each other.  I am working on this every day. I need to be more humble and forgiving.

• Being brave will sometimes mean pretending to be someone who is brave.  Somewhere inside me will always be that little girl too afraid to raise her hand to ask to go to the bathroom in her 4th grade class who peed in her desk.  I will often feel like an imposter.

• And lastly, solo se que yo no se nada.  Y para los que no me entienden, la frase significa “I only know that I know nothing.”

So, how about you?

What is something that you know for sure?

 

 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by Must Hike Must Eat!

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