Iven Do It


     Iven was a nickname that had grown on my family during my youth, so fitting was the name that they even had me a t-shirt made in my honor. Iven wasn't a dog, an imaginary friend, or the name of a cartoon character. Ivan was my mantra. You see, I was a fiercely independent child and if something was going to be done, by golly, I was going to bring it forth in the universe! “Iven do it” I would yell out! 


Others would snicker at my inability to say “I Can” but to me it was my first taste of independence and the joy of accomplishing something on my own. Iven disappeared as the years went on, and soon Iven was just a word now yellowed on a shirt in the back of my hope chest. I got lost in the monotony of life, consuming myself with pity, doubt, and restless negativity.  Iven soon turned to "Iven do it later" As I grew older,  I yearned to reach people with a message of love and the ability for everyone to see the divine opportunities that they hold inside. Soon even "Iven do it later" morphed into "Iven do it at all?" Big. Fat. Question. Mark. 


 Public speaker I am not unless you like to see an Elvis twitching, red faced, jelly legged young girl try to give a heartfelt talk without bursting into a bad rendition of “Hound Dog." However, through writing is where I hope to inspire, not necessarily in profound ways, but just by being myself. Most people learn the most about me through my words on paper than I can ever muster up in real life.  Nevertheless, I want a little piece of Iven inspiration to nestle into the hearts of everyone who reads my words. Whether through the crazy ramblings of a busy mom, the heartfelt reflections of a compassionate nurse, or simply the musings of a simple girl who longs to change the world. At least a piece of it.
　
I got out that Iven shirt the other day and held it close, hoping to soak up any leftover feistiness of the little girl who gave it life a long time ago. A few stains of aging and probably some spaghetti sauce of 1980 adorn the front. The real message was on the washing instructions that curled up in a ball from numerous washings. To Iven, they were much more than how to take care of material; it was how to take care of me.

1. Machine Wash Warm: Don’t dwell in the past or yearn for the future. Live for today in the warm waters of the present and know that if life ever gets too hot or too cold, the warm cycle will always be there to wash away the stains of your past, even bad spaghetti memories of 1980.
2. Tumble Dry Low Setting: Take life one day at a time, don’t rush. Give your children a kiss, forgive an adversary, lend an ear, help a friend, and most of all remember that on the low setting, life cannot get too hot for you too handle, no matter how much tumbling life hands you.
3. Do Not Bleach:  Embrace all that life has handed to you. Cherish the moments in your life when you wish it would all just be made new again.  We define who we are through all of our transgressions. Besides bleach just makes things faded, dingy, and if used with the wrong intentions, downright ruined. 


Sigh, the shirt is still yellowed and much too small to wear with any sense of dignity and pride, but the reality of Iven lives on. 

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