When we moved to the house we currently live in almost four years ago, I said to Brian, “When we walk/drive up to the house, I want to see a SEA of TULIPS!”

The front garden was lovely, but it wasn’t what I wanted.  It was a clear “no.”  What was a clear YES?  Tulips.

That fall, we planted hundreds of tulip bulbs. And each spring, guess what?  There is a sea of tulips in our front garden bed. And it totally delights my heart.  People stop and notice. Friends come over and comment how much they love these flowers and we start talking about our favorite flowers and favorite things and how we have to do what delights our hearts more often.

Last fall, in the middle of the pandemic, I looked again at our front garden and I said to Brian, “I would love to see daffodils in our sea of tulips!”

Daffodils come up earlier than tulips and I just knew that this spring – a year into a pandemic – it would be nice to see life — hope — sprouting as early as possible.

YES to early signs of spring.  YES to life returning.  YES to hope.

So we planted a ton of daffodils. And guess what?! We have daffodils sprouting in our sea of tulips! And it totally delights my heart.

I didn’t know how exactly it would all look. But I had a vision. I had a YES.  And I planted the seeds that would bring that vision to fruition. I didn’t plant irises or wildflowers – which are all lovely flowers. But I wanted a sea of tulips (and daffodils).

This got me thinking about the work I do with coaching clients and participants in both Soul Fuel and Soul Rising. So much of my work is about helping people “listen within,” to clear out the distractions, and to really hear from their SOUL the YES they have to say right now in this season of their life.

That YES is the basis for a soulful VISION.

How do we get to that YES and that soulful vision?

When I am talking to people about leading a life they deeply love and following what delights our hearts, I talk about first we have to PAUSE. There are so many distractions in our lives – so much noise. We have to get quiet and listen. Listen within. Listen to nature. Listen to our soul speaking to us. Listen for a vision arising that we KNOW is aligned with our souls.

This requires patience. The vision doesn’t always come so quickly. We must trust that we WILL be guided. If we take action too quickly without the guidance from our souls – without a soulful vision – the actions we take and the seeds we plant may be all over the place. And it may not result in the “garden” we truly want.

I know that things like patience and trust and waiting aren’t easy tasks. They aren’t too popular in our culture today.

And yet something holy in us knows that we must wait, we must have patience, and we must trust. There comes a time when we won’t keep busying ourselves just doing SOMEthing. And we decide that we will wait for that soul guidance – that vision that will delight our hearts.

I didn’t tell you that I waited decades to have a house where I drive up or walk up to it and see a sea of tulips. Tulips are my favorite flower and they simply delight my heart. But there wasn’t ever the right space in our previous homes for a sea of tulips. We’d buy a bunch of tulips and put them in a vase. And that was delightful too. AND when we moved to this house, I instantly saw it: a sea of tulips in our front garden.

It started with a vision – a soulful YES.  I waited. I was (sometimes) patient! I trusted. And today I have a sea of tulips that totally delights my heart.

Your soul has a vision for you in this season of your life. Maybe you don’t know what that YES is quite yet. The invitation is to pause and listen for awhile so that you can hear the YES more clearly.

Maybe you are now planting seeds to bring that vision into fruition. The invitation is to stay clear and not get distracted with other pretty seeds.

Maybe you are waiting for that vision to come to life. The invitation is to cultivate patience and drop into sacred trust.

No matter where you are in the vision of what delights your heart, I promise you: listening for that YES is worth it. Planting the right seeds is worth it. Having patience, waiting, and trusting is worth it.

You will have your own sea of tulips blooming, too. I just know that God would have it no other way. God wants what delights your heart, too.

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If it’s time to focus on YOU and your soulful YES and VISION, consider 1:1 coaching with me.

My books, Your Light is Rising and Gems of Delight offer lovely reflections, poetry, and embodiment practices for “listening within” and honoring the guidance of your heart.

Soul Fuel, my course that’s all about fueling you with self-love and beauty, will be coming in the fall.  Sign up to get on the wait list.  Soul Rising, my small group coaching experience, will be coming soon, too.