Secrets of Adulthood – Gretchen’s and Mine

Gretchen Rubin just published a wonderful new book titled “Secrets of Adulthood – Simple Truths for our Complex Lives.” This is a collection of inspirational quotes that will delight your soul, make you think, and offer you wisdom and insight.  A book to consider as a gift for Mother’s Day, graduation or birthday.

Here are some examples:

• What we do everyday matters more than what we do once in a while.
• We know if something is important to us if it shows up in our schedule, our spending and our space.
• If we can’t be loving, we can be kind; if we can’t be kind, we can be courteous; if we can’t be courteous, we can be quiet.
• Nothing is more exhausting than the task that’s never started.

So what would you write as YOUR Secrets for Adulthood to pass on to others. I think this could be a great practice for each of us to write out in our journal to leave as a legacy for our children. Or to have as a family or friend conversation around the table. This is the type of topic that wouldn’t be one and done either but one that would start and be added to over the years.

Here are a few I initially started:

Looking Up

Just the physical act of lifting your chin and looking up, raises your spirit. But looking up also holds many spiritual lessons too. I find looking up throughout the day – to nature, to the heavens, outside of myself – enlarges my world, reminds me to be compassionate, encircles me with hope and love, and helps me keep my heart and mind on God.

Looking In

There is much work to this inward journey of finding your true self – a lifelong trip that sometimes is dark, often brings tears of joy and sorrow, and comes with an assortment of detours, twists and turns, and unexpected venues and delights. The practice of looking inward is found in solitude, silence, stillness, journaling, nature, art, and often during retreats, but sometimes in tender serendipity of interaction with others, or in a musical lyric or the moment of someone’s dying. Going inward is like peeling off layers of the onion, slowly and piece by piece. The deeper you go the sweeter the taste, all in discovering the wonderful core that God made you to be.

“Risk itself is a process of constant unfolding. And taking risks is the process of peeling back the layers of what you are and who you want to be.” Phoebe Eng

Find Lamplighters to Guide Your Way

I love the word lamplighters and have learned and listened to many wisdom teachers in my life.

I heard the term Lamplighters from wisdom teacher mystic Cynthia Bourgeault who described the spiritual teachers in her life – both ancient and contemporary – as lamplighters, those lighting the way for her path. Like electric wires bringing light into my soul, I too have lamplighters, even a few high-tension ones that boost my spirit beyond the ordinary. Highly charged lamplighters for me are Henri Nouwen, Teresa of Avilla, and Barbara Brown Taylor. 

Pay attention who stirs your soul. Seek them out. Study their words and how they lived. Imagine talking with them. Maybe even find living ones to interview.

Hebrews 12:1 tells us we are “surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith.”  They are cheering us on with their presence, insights and lighting our way.

What advice would you pass onto to others?