Lisa Hopkins: Pages Left Unturned

Have you ever considered how many pages are left unturned in your life? How many things you’ve thought about but never tried. 

We are so much closer to wonder and transformation than we know. But if these possibilities continue to remain in our blindspot, as time inevitably passes, they may someday only appear in our rearview mirror.

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Transcript

Pages Left Unturned

We’ve all felt the allure of trying something new. A novel idea or aspirational thought that bubbles up inside us, tempting us to wonder what it feels like on the other side of our comfort zone. 

Skimming the surface of possibility, we meander there a while, like we do in the aisles of a bookstore that has drawn us in. Its rows of wisdom, enticing us to let go of looking at our world in the same old way. Daring us to learn, to grow, to dream.

We rarely allow ourselves to stay there very long and instead retreat to the safety of what we already know.

It’s easy to buy the book. It’s not as easy to read it. Why do you suppose that is?

It’s not that the words are difficult or that we don’t understand its value so why is it so hard to follow through with what in that fleeting moment felt so exciting? Why, if we know in our heads that growth is good for us, do we more often than not just stay right where we are, or even defer to others to dare; while we watch from the sidelines.

My daughter recently gave me a book which inspired me to write this today.

I imagine her, alone in the bookstore carefully selecting a title that she knows will delight me. She is an expert at giving, and seems to find immense joy in it and yet she is a complete novice when it comes to giving to herself. 

I have no doubt that I will immerse myself in the prose of this beautiful book, and, ironically, highlight passages that I hope might resonate; with her initials. Although she chose the book, I know she won’t read it and it pains me to know that the very thing that might help her is just beyond a page unturned. 

Have you ever considered how many pages are left unturned in your life? How many things you’ve thought about but never tried. How many books line your shelves, side-by-side, waiting patiently to offer you a passage to a new way of thinking;  unworn and unshared, bursting with possibility just beyond the cover.

We are so much closer to wonder and transformation than we know. But if these possibilities continue to remain in our blindspot, as time inevitably passes, they may someday only appear in our rearview mirror.

Whether it’s exploring the boundaries of a relationship, a project you are working on, a career change or a literal book you’ve been wanting to read, I encourage you to open it up and start turning the pages. It doesn’t matter if you finish it, it just matters that you begin. You never know where your next chapter might take you.

I leave you with something from the book that my beautiful daughter gave me:

-don miguel ruiz jr writes

‘A moment of clarity without any action is just a thought that passes in the wind. But a moment of clarity followed by an action is a pivotal moment in our life.”