If anyone knows me – I am a huge Jen Fulwiler fan. I have all three of her books and I regularly get extras so that I can share or give them to others. One Beautiful Dream is one of my all time favorite books and now her new book Your Blue Flame is becoming one of my favorites as well.
Here are ten takeaways that are coming from Your Blue Flame and how its impacting my life.
- Using Your Blue Flame is a beautiful way to love the world – What is a blue flame you ask? According to Jen – A blue flame is something you do and were destined to do, that fills you with energy and adds love to the world. How does this impact my life currently? Currently even though I’ve yet to figure out my blue flame – one of the things that I love to do is show people love. I am a gift giver, the person that always thinks of others first, I will be there for a shoulder to cry on or a listening ear. I am a very compassionate person and that’s how I show love to those that I care about both family, friends and even random strangers sometimes. Loving the world in my case is full of small, sometimes seemingly insignificant gestures that make people’s day.
- Let God Surprise You – Sometimes your life doesn’t always go the way you expect it to and God surprises you. I’ve made a really good friend in the last year – that I wouldn’t have made otherwise. Our coffee talks weekly give me life.
- Love the Bomb – Love the bomb means embrace your failures – this for me has been challenging – last year I became unemployed and its really been a hard time for me finding a new job – to me this a major source of shame and I have been struggling embracing it. I’ve been loving my new routine though and try to get up with purpose and a plan for every day.
- Make Fail Your Word of the Year – this one was a hard one to accept – by embracing your rejections and failures, you may come across more opportunities and senses of accomplishment. I’ve been to dozens of interviews and have yet to find my next job but I know with all the practice that I’m getting by interviewing is working out in my favor. Not only that this time that I have now allows me to work on gaining new skills.
- Embrace Your Quirks – Growing up – I was always the horse crazy little girl and I knew everything horse racing about the Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown, you name it – I could rattle off my favorite winners. As a teenager, I sort of hated being known as that girl but I stuck it out and now in my thirties, I love that I cherish something so much that I want to be able to pass it down to my children someday.
- What Story Do you want to Write – As Jen says we were made for stories, which reminds me of a quote – do you want to go to your grave – plodding and slow and silently or wild and carefree saying yippee what a wild ride! Life is meant to be lived! So many people are consumed by work that they forget to live life. It is such a wonderful thing to live life and take time for you, remembering those special times as part of your life, your greatest story of all.
- Ask for Help – Jen often mentions that for a long time she was too stubborn or proud to ask for help. In todays world, women need a support network and that it is okay to ask for help. Heck women need a support network even if they don’t have kids, that’s why there such things as Wine Wednesdays. This has touched my own life, being more open to friends, in the midst of this pandemic, and making sure I nurture the relationships with the women that I care about.
- Look for Loaves of Bread – There’s an old saying that says every baby comes with a loaf of bread under his arm – according to the book – meaning that families experience blessings when a new baby arrives. And Jen goes on to say that every person you let come into your life comes with a loaf of bread under their arms. Take for instance, the bible study that I now belong to through my church. I wouldn’t have joined if not for my friend, and now I know a whole group of women from church that I might now have ever met before. There are blessings that show up in your life, whether it be a baby or a new friend. You just have to be there to see it.
- Blow It Up – Jen says that she and her husband, Joe aren’t afraid to blow things up in their life. What she means is – what are you willing to change or do in your life – even sometimes crazily – that will help you with your blue flame? In my life currently – I started this blog – maybe it will lead to something or maybe it won’t but at least I took the big step to put myself out there even just a little bit.
- Life Interrupts You – Life can get in the way of your goals sure, but life also may interrupt you for the bigger picture of your blue flame. You may have a new baby, or a bunch of little kids that depend on you. You may have a husband or friends that demand some of your time. Don’t let that stop you – embrace it. I think the biggest thing for me is that I’ve learned to embrace interruptions – it helps me refocus and get back to the bigger picture.
