tending the flame

Jan 15

Dear Reader,

As a therapist, I continue to notice how quickly we drift from what we care about, and how often the turning point comes down to returning.

Gentle persistence is the practice of staying close. It happens when you loosen your grip on forcing change and choose presence with what matters, even when your attention wanders or your confidence dips. I think of this as tending the flame, a way of measuring the day by whether you came back to what matters.

There’s a moment most days when your mind starts negotiating, suggesting you hold off until you feel ready or have more energy. This suggestion sounds sensible enough, yet it usually turns into delay or procrastination. The practice is to hear the negotiation, let it be there, and still take one small step that keeps you connected to what matters.

Maybe that looks like reading one page instead of none, stepping outside for five minutes, writing two honest sentences, or sending a simple message you have been avoiding. Do it slowly enough that you can feel yourself doing it, like placing one more piece of kindling where it belongs. Let the step be modest, and let it count.

Over time, gentle persistence builds a steadier kind of trust, not that progress will always be visible, but that you will not abandon yourself when it is not. Each return becomes a vote for the life you are trying to grow, and the flame, tended with patience, stays lit.

Yours in the journey,