What Direction Are Your Feet Pointed In This Year?

Several years ago I heard an incredibly powerful speech from a hostage survivor. When asked whether she’d been able to forgive her captors, she responded: “I definitely have days when I don’t feel very forgiving, but I want to forgive. My feet are pointed in that direction.”

Her response sprang to mind when I saw this photo, which I took myself during a photography retreat last Fall. I was intending to capture the light, the leaves, the colors—not my own feet! As I laughed at my unintentional addition, the power of the speaker’s metaphor hit home again and in a new way.

Since that day in November, the phrase has stayed top of mind. I try to practice what I preach by setting intentions about how and who I want and need to be in any given day or interaction. I started using the phrase as a prompt.

Like the speaker, I certainly have had moments of missing the mark or swerving from it altogether! What I am finding is that the concept is giving me a broader lens on my efforts.

It’s helping me reset and try again and again, remembering that the overall direction is bigger than any one step or misstep.

This phrase will now become the frame for my 2021 intention as a whole. Each year, I select a phrase or a concept that captures what I’m learning or moving towards. Though I’m still marinating on what that will be for this year (hey, it is only January 6th …!), this photo now sits on my desk as a touchstone.

What direction are your feet pointed in this year?