An embossed invitation on linen paper arrives at your door. You’ve been invited! You’re boss invites you and the team to his house for a barbecue. You’ve been invited! A dear friend texts an invite to dinner and a movie. You’ve been invited! An invitation is precious. We feel seen, regarded, honored. To be invited is to be valued.
INVITE is my word. It feels like an odd word to adopt as a guidepost for the months ahead. The more time I spend learning about the word invite, the more confident I am that it’s my word. To invite requires awareness of the opportunity to summon someone into more. This word pushes me to recognize there is more and be willing to invite others to it.
In my 20’s, I was invited to forgive. It was a life-shaping moment. Hate that had transformed my 28 year old self into a bitter old lady fell away. My circumstances did not change. I did. I was invited into something more by someone who was willing to invest, linger with me in my resistance and celebrate with me in my victories. I was invited!
At the age of 14 and again in my 30’s, I was invited to do something I was incapable of. The first was an invitation from my grandfather, the later from my boss. Both men believed in me and demonstrated it by giving me great responsibility. In the middle of fear, doubt, uncertainty, I accomplished what felt impossible. Without the invitation from these men I never would have stepped into those responsibilities, I would have continued to believe I was incapable. I was invited!
A few years ago, I was invited to take a risk by a leading businessman. I am not a risk-taker. The known and comfortable is where I live. Risking something seems, well, so risky! I prefer what is safe. Being invited into a place of discomfort created the opportunity for growth that I never would have seized. I was invited!
INVITE. I will opt to invite everyone I can into places that will be empowering, encouraging, affirming because there is more. And sometimes we need an invitation.
You are invited to partner with me to become more than you think you are.