Here is a poem I have kept for years to remind me of what I strive for.

“I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance, to live so that which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom, and that which came to me as blossom goes on as fruit.” Dawna Markova.

I went back in my blog this morning and read my first ever post and realized that I have worked very hard to break through the past to get where I am now and I feel real joy. I do believe if you do the work to challenge yourself, to question what you believe you will  grow through and out of those things that have held you bound for so long. When I decided to leap out into the universe and start this blog I was breaking through old patterns of belief and it was quite terrifying in fact. But as I reread this blog that just flowed from my heart that day, it made me smile because I can see how far I’ve grown since then. I hope that in some way, these words inspire you to know and believe in yourself, to remember the past is gone, the future belongs to you. We are the creators of our future. Is there destiny, is there a master plan? I believe we play our role in our lives which will either give us the power to grasp all that could be, or take away our power because we have not the faith or guts to shift our thinking at pivotal moments. I’m cheering for you, please cheer for me. We are in the human race, therefore on the same team!!

So I give you “I Rise” – be blessed today, or whenever fate may cause you to read this.

Surely as a cloud begins to form in a long clear sky, stillness is being gently startled by a warm breeze. My eyes open as I feel the movement gently caressing my chin as it tunes my face to the sky. How long have I been laying here sleeping? I have forgotten what I was waiting for. I feel my heart beating. I feel the blood coursing through my veins. I feel the air filling my lungs. Was I dead? Am I resurrected? I have no memory of how I got here. Where am I? Slowly I rise, first to my elbow, then to sitting up. Breathing too fast I wait a moment and count my breaths until the rhythm soothes me. I pull myself to my knees and lean forward, my fists grasp the sand. How long have I been here in this desert? I dare not look back to remember, for the past is what brought me here and left me for dead. I feel no allegiance to what has long abandoned me. I will not waste my mind on trying to remember. No, I will trust that only the good lessons will prevail. I will pay attention only to the beating of my heart as to whether I should walk this way or that. This sense that lies within my soul shall guide me now. Not the hand that drags or the one that pushes me, but the one from within me shall I follow now. I know this now, as I kneel in this shifting sand, that the winding road beginning to appear before me, is waiting for me. The warm breeze swirls around me and I stretch out my arms and I think I almost see forming wings.They fill up with the breeze which has become a greater force and I look up and the sun is rising, color floods the horizon, and a voice inside me says,“Rise woman, RISE!” In a flash I am standing, and as I stand fully aware, fully seeing, a path appears just a steps length away. I am beginning to see shapes forming in the distance, some sort of mystical homeland. Impulsively I step forward, my heart is hungry, starving in fact and I know it! My foot hits the path and suddenly I cannot see more than one step away. I stop in fear, wondering, was what I saw an illusion, a mirage in this desert? My heart beats desperately, I feel it will leap from my chest. Some time passes, I let the shock of all of these things pass through me and feel it fade. For in this storm a voice speaks to me, and it comes from within.  Just take the next step, and the next step, and the one after that. And it’s then I realize I cannot know more than I can be responsible for in this very moment. I trust the path before me is fatefully calling me and I trust me, for the first time, I know I will know, and that’s enough.

The Sarah Hale Folger Project seeks to inspire greatness in humanity by sharing inspiring stories with the world. Please contact me here on my blog or through my website at http://www.SarahHaleFolger.com

Sarah Hale Folger is a Creative Consultant, Blogger, Artist & Singer. PLEASE make sure to subscribe to my blog today so you never miss the next thing happening in the world the way I see it! Please feel free to comment, share and subscribe to my blog!!! Thanks!!