I always rebuke myself when I don’t use food before the use by date. It doesn’t happen often, but it annoys me that I have wasted food. If it is chicken or turkey, I smell it to see if it is OK for my dogs, and then rinse it off if it seems within the safety range. I don’t know why I think it’s OK for them to eat meat past the use by date and not me, but there you have it. I do.

I got to thinking about this strange proclivity of mine and then wandered down the mental path into thinking about my own expiration date. As far as I know, it isn’t stamped anywhere on my body, though I’ve often joked with friends that dating at this age can make one feel like there is a “Past Use By Date” sticker stuck to the forehead.

Death is the thing that looms out there in the great somewhere for all of us. Everyone you know, and don’t know, will one day die. And most of us will not have a say in the how or when. It is a sobering thought, isn’t it? But incredibly liberating in the sense that, while we cannot control the ending, we can very much participate in creating radiant beauty until that moment arrives.

The biggest regret of the dying is this: I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

Ouch. I do not want to die with that regret. What about you?

Here is what I have found to be true about courage and living a living a life that is true to myself during these last five years of soul searching.

Every morning I get up and visualize putting on a jet pack. Yes, I really do this, just as I am about to put my feet on the floor. Some days, especially the ones when I don’t want to get out of bed, I imagine putting in beautiful, shimmering balls of courage, strength and perseverance. Other days, the balls are love, self-compassion and grit. It all depends on what is going on in my head at that moment and what I have to tackle during the day.

The jet pack is my signal that it is time to once again adopt the mindset of a warrior, that today is another day and one more gorgeous opportunity to grow and change. I need to remind myself of this everyday, because I do forget. I get grumpy and want to give up. I get overwhelmed and want to lay down and stay there feeling sorry for myself.

“The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse.”

Carlos Castaneda

I don’t know that choosing to be courageous, or making choices that are as true and close to the center of my heart as possible, will ever be easy. Maybe if I had started earlier, but I have nearly half a century under my belt of living in fear and allowing myself to be at the mercy of my untrained mind.

I am up against some pretty entrenched habits and hell of a lot of history.

So the way I see it, every day I can make the choice to put on my jet pack and try to make a difference out there.

I hope you will strap on your jet-pack and join me. What do you need to put in yours to participate in creating a radiant, beautiful life?

Live courageously without regret.

Sending love and light,

–db

Who is Dianna Bonny?

Hi, my name is Dianna Bonny. It’s my mission to candidly share my journey with you. For me, it’s all about the healing: to create a radiant healing energy for others who have befallen a similar fate. Together, we can forge beautiful lives of belonging and connection. Thanks for joining me today! I look forward to hearing from you.