Irreplaceable you

The other day I was packing up coffee after an event, when suddenly I got a whiff of Folger’s coffee.  That’s right, not Starbucks. It was Folger’s.

It stopped me in my tracks.

It filled my chest with memories.  It took me back to a musty workshop by the lake, with pebble sand filling old Folger’s cans.  I could hear the sound of scraping the cans against the pebble lined beach, filling them again and again.  I could feel the sun on my back and see my sister Kim, in her swimsuit, by the water.

The smell of Folger’s took me back to the lake where I spent summers with my Grandparents in Missouri.

It’s funny now, I don’t know what all those Folger’s cans were for. . . and it’s too late to ask.  But Grandpa had his wood shop at the top of the boat ramp and I used to love going in there.  It had a strange musty smell, like coffee, mixed with metal and wood and lake water.  It was full of fishing poles and bait and all kinds of interesting things, including all those all Folger’s cans.  We used them to dig and play in the pebbles down by the water.

Those experiences shaped me.  

They taught me to love the outdoors, fishing, swimming and waterskiing.  Life at the lake taught me to love adventure, and maybe the smell of old Folger’s cans.  It taught me I could do hard things, that some girls wouldn’t try. . . like cleaning fish, shooting a gun, and burning the trash.  I became a lot of who I am down by that lake.

And it only took a whiff of Folger’s to remind me.  

The aroma of Starbucks has never taken me there.  Only Folger’s could do that.  That’s what’s so amazing about this brutiful life we live.

Our experiences shape us.  

The good, the bad, the hot and the smelly. . .they form us into exactly who we’re meant to be.  They give us the resources to serve exactly the people we’re meant to serve, in exactly the way they need us to show up for them.

Lean in.

Today, when you step out into your world, and you’re reminded of experiences from your past that have shaped you, remember the smell of Folger’s in your cup (or can, as it may be).  The experiences that don’t make sense.  The ones that brought joy, or even pain.

They shaped you into exactly the person you needed to be in this moment.  

And today, when you’re confused about why you’re traveling the exact path you’re on, smell the Folger’s.  You are becoming.  You are becoming the one and only you.  You need this day, this experience.

We need you to experience this day, to take it all in and to make it through.

We need you to keep becoming the one and only, irreplaceable, you.

to more love,

Crystal