Before I go any further on this blogging journey, I thought I’d provide a little background info on why I chose the title Living Embrace. Like everything else with this blog, choosing a title took a lot of time and thought and caused me much stress and anxiety. I spent many nights in bed unable to fall asleep because of all the possible titles zooming through my head. The title of anything gives readers and viewers a first impression, a glimpse into the content, and should therefore hold some kind of meaning behind it. Titles are important, but I definitely put way too much pressure on myself to string words together in the most clever, accessible, and meaningful way to create a title that perfectly reflects what I want to create. To be honest, I think Living Embrace was probably the second title idea I came up with, but my overthinking mind wanted to scroll through countless other options for months and months before settling. I had some other contenders, but Living Embrace was the title I always came back to, and the one that seemed just right.
“Embrace” has become a word I’ve decided to live my life by. Dictionaries define “embrace” as the act of holding someone or something close, to accept a belief or change willingly and enthusiastically, and to include something as a constituent part. To me, embrace is all of that and more. It is the active acceptance of all aspects of life. It is being grateful for the good and learning from the bad. It is the recognition that certain things in life are out of our control, but knowing we have the power to take action.
I view and treat the word “embrace” in an emotional, mental, and physical sense. Embrace all emotions, no matter what they are. Appreciate your positive emotions, and don’t resist negative or difficult emotions; instead, sit with them, listen to them, and learn from them. Embrace whatever happens in life. Celebrate the good and try to approach the bad with an open mind. Embrace yourself, your loved ones, and even people you don’t particularly like. Find gratitude for the people you love and those who love you. Don’t force yourself to get along with everyone, and instead reflect on why you might not like someone and accept it, and make time in your life for the people who bring you joy.
I’ll be the first to say that I am not the most positive person. I have a tendency to dwell on the negative and forget to be thankful for the positive. But I don’t believe that we should be expected to put all our attention on the positive and resist the negative. Embrace is all-encompassing, which includes the negative, challenging, and difficult parts of life. That doesn’t mean you have to always turn the negative into a positive; it just means we need to allow ourselves to accept and learn from the negative. Usually the most meaningful growth comes from the most difficult experiences.
Embrace has become an important word to me, one that I try to implement and remind myself of every day. Embrace is a mindset and a way of life, a reminder and a mantra, a difficult goal to achieve and the most rewarding place to be. It has transformed the way I live my life. Everyone has their own approach to life, but I think we could all benefit from thinking, feeling, and living embrace.
what do you think?