Life is too short.

Have you ever met someone who is uncomfortable? Always uncomfortable. I don't mean uncomfortable in her seat or in her situation. Uncomfortable in her own self, unable to allow anyone else to feel comfortable around her. This woman is not at rest with herself, and she refuses to allow others to rest in her presence.

I know a lot of women like this. I have been this woman. In my case, it was quiet, unsuspecting. In other cases it is loud and obvious. However it presents itself, this unrest is a disease. It tears at relationships and leaves souls exhausted. There is no winning with someone who is not at rest with herself. Nothing you do is good enough, no amount of love is without strings attached, no nice thing is said without conditions. At least in my experience. And it makes me sad. It makes me sad that these women have never known the peace that is found in rest. It makes me sad that these women have never been showed the kind of love that allowed them to love themselves. It makes me sad that these women see nothing in themselves worth cultivating, caring for, or trusting. Every woman has inside something too precious to go uncared for and unloved. And it makes me sad that many women miss out on that because they don't have someone to show them the gorgeous wonder of their own hearts.

I have learned to rest in myself. I am learning to rest in myself. I learn more and more each day what it is to be at rest; I desire to be a woman of rest. I want people to be able to rest in my presence. I want to show these women how very much worth loving they are. I really believe true and complete beauty is found in the peace of your heart. If a woman is not at rest in her own soul and in her own body, no amount of outward beauty is convincing. I don't want to be an empty shell, and I do not want to watch the young (and older!) women I know grow into empty, restless, loveless shells.

I want to be a captivating woman with a captivating heart, around whom you can rest. For some reason or another, simply existing in the same general space as a close friend is more important than going somewhere or doing something. I particularly treasure time spent resting together, just my husband and me. More is spoken in peaceful silence than busy "hanging out" and "chatting" anywhere - particularly among women, it seems. I long to have people in my life around whom I can rest, and I desire to be a woman of rest myself. Life is too short to waste restlessly.

I want to be captivating. I want to see a generation of women who are at rest. Who are captivating. There is nothing, to me, quite so beautiful.

(Thoughts inspired by the book Captivating)