Mallory Ervin - Living Fully: Dare to Step into Your Most Vibrant Life

Are you feeling the magic and miracle that is your life at this very moment? I know Im going there right away, but lets start this journey off with true, transparent honesty. Right now, would you say youre truly living fully? Or would it be more accurate to say you want to be, but out of pure overwhelm, or exhaustion, or survival mode, youre barely feeling the day most days? Get ready, because today could be the first day of your most glorious and victorious days ahead. And to kick it off, I want you to take a moment and stop reading this book. I know that might be a surprising way to start a book, but I want you to try something.

Take a moment and look around you right now. First, note what colors and textures and objects you see. And just take them in. Are the colors vibrant? Or neutral? Now, smell. What do you smell right now? Take a few deep breaths and acknowledge only what you smell. If youre in your closet trying to get some alone time to read, it might be the rug or the scent of wood or dryer sheets from the laundry. If youre in your favorite chair somewhere, maybe you smell your pet nearby or maybe its the trash that needs to go out or the scent of your favorite cup of coffee. Just take a moment and take a deep breath in and enjoy the smell, even if its not your favorite smell, because its part of your glorious life.

Now I want you to pause and just listen to what you hear around you. Maybe its absolute silence. If so, maybe you can hear your own heart beating. Or maybe you hear the noise of your kids fighting or yelling Mom! as they try to get to you. And as you hear the noise around you, pay attention to what you think about it. Is your first thought that you can never catch a break? That you just need a few minutes to yourself? Or that maybe that noise of possible annoyance could also be the noise that you cherish knowing that one day, not too many years from now, it will be the last time you have kids searching the house for you.

All moments in life are so easy to miss. So easy to assign meaning to what steals our joy, instead of multiplies it. So easy to numb away from, disassociate from, and tune out of. So easy to be so busy that we default to living in survival mode or reaction mode. In our homes, our families, our marriages, and in our own bodies. Instead of living fully, were living dully, and we think we have to.

But what if were simply prioritizing it all wrong. What if its possible to actually assign meaning to, and be present for, every moment in a way that brings you joy and fills your soul? Even the hard, difficult, painful moments. What if life is happening for you and not to you?

What if God or your Creator is saying, Hey, do you see whats around you? I gave you these senses so you could appreciate the beauty all around. Like new art that Ive created to dazzle your soul each day.

What if He is watching you right now saying, Yeah, I know these things happening are hard and painful, but I made you with all the strength you need to overcome them, and the ability to lean on me when you cant, so that you build your trust and faith at the same time.

What if Hes watching you right now saying, I didnt create you to numb out and get by, constantly hustling to try and accomplish the external things the world says are significant but that will never fill your soul. I created you to be a living expression of beauty and goodness and joy. I created that body you keep doubting, in the perfect image of me. I created those babies and family and friends that are challenging so you can grow into your most loving self, your deepest wisdom, and your greatest compassion.

Nothing in your life is an accident, even the things that dont make sense to you now. Theyre all part of your divine destiny. But if you continue to close your eyes to the colors and textures around you because youre too busy, if you continue to miss the sweet sounds in your life making music for you right now, if you continue to attach meaning that doesnt serve you to the moments that inconvenience you, if you continue to numb out, hustle for the worthiness of others, deem busyness a badge of honor, people please into depletion, youre going to risk missing it all.

Today, right now, as you turn this next page, its your opportunity to truly ask yourself: Are you living dully or are you living fully? See, Ive learned that the most soul-filling types of fully are free and are accessible to us all right now, usually with a simple slight change of awareness and perspective. One that most people never step into. But I dont believe youre reading this book by accident. Maybe youve spent your life doing the best you can, but it was always with these simple things missing. Or maybe you picked it up because you have big dreams on your heart or a calling you know youve not yet stepped into because youve been too scared to go after it. Maybe today is the day you begin believing in you fully. And combined with Mallorys beautiful stories and powerful lessons in the pages to come, maybe today is the day you decide that youre going to change your life. And its OK if youre not sure how to. Making the decision and believing its possible is the most important first step. And I dont just believe, I know its possible. And Id like to finish this foreword with a prayer from me for you (as this book is for all of us, I know we might share different faiths, so please apply the word that speaks closest to you in this prayer, maybe its God, or Creator, or Jesus, or Universe, etc.):

Dear God, I pray that the beautiful soul reading these words right now is wrapped in your loving arms as they pause, absorb, and spend some time filling up with exactly what you know they need in their life and in their soul right now. I pray that the stories and lessons on these pages speak to them in a way that helps them celebrate their own ups and downs, helps them rid themself of any shame, helps them forgive their past mistakes, helps them tune in to their glorious gifts, and helps them know that theyre perfectly made. Lord, please fill them up with your Holy Spirit and open their eyes even more vividly to joy, to beauty, and to who You created them to be. Help them live love, give love, feel love, and be love. And grant them favor as they begin this journey of loving fully, giving fully, seeing their own beauty fully, tapping into their purpose and power fully, laughing fully, feeling fully, and in this one beautiful life they have,