This year, everything changed.
Some things were so exciting I couldn’t keep still.
Some hurt so bad it was hard to breathe.
But that’s what life is right? That’s how it shapes us.
Finding My Calling
This year, for the first time in my life I understood what it meant to say you’ve found your calling. I truly have found mine and the move towards it now feels completely natural and not at all daunting.
It’s so interesting to look back on the last 20 years to see how I’ve got here. Each twist and turn have led me to this big year of newness that feels so familiarly right. Why does it feel this way? Why do I feel so calm when everything is so uncertain?
The Nature of Change
This got me thinking about change; it’s the one thing that’s inevitable to all of us and yet the thing we’re often most afraid of.
When are we afraid of it? Usually when it’s unexpected and not planned. When it’s a difficult time, this is certainly the case.
If it’s a change that we want, then we put all of our energy into focussing on that result. If we don’t get it, then what? What does that do to us and what impact is that having on us. If we do get the result we want, is it that everything is now ok, we’ve ‘made it’ and can now relax. But for how long? When will we become dissatisfied again and want more; therefore, more change?
Learning and Growth
In the past, I’ve not been one for change, often dealing with it in a really poor way. Blaming others or a greater force (or mostly myself) if I didn’t get what I wanted or felt I ‘deserved’. I tended to be just short of most achievements. Great, but never quite great enough, a second or third best in most situations. Looking back now, I think that’s still pretty good. But just because I didn’t get the ‘win’, the ‘golden ticket’, whether it be the job, the boy, the house, whatever, then it was a fail; I was a failure.
Looking Back to Move Forward
Only now, looking back, I see that it was me that could change it. Not the result as such, but the reaction to it and the story I told myself and those around me about it. The energy around a situation good or bad can impact us and the way we see ourselves and our lives dramatically. This alone, daring to look inwards, is the most powerful learning, I’ve ever done for myself.
A few years down this personal development road, I’ve now began to use this to support my decisions and this is really helping my confidence. I trust my gut more and if I think that something isn’t good for me, even if I might really want it then I’m comfortable with steering myself away from it.
I don’t get tempted to do something just because I feel I should. By gaining that control, I feel better about saying no and understanding that if it doesn’t feel good for me then it’s probably not.
Since doing this, the doors around me seem to have opened up. I’ve put energy into myself and the paths I like the look of. Because they feel good, I’m enjoying them. Because I’m enjoying them, I’m seeing outcomes and positive results. It’s helping me attract the right things to me.
I have no doubt that the next year will bring yet more change. So much of this can be unwanted. This year has been one of my hardest and one of my best at the same time. I’m not sure what to do with that math! But a few years ago, I tore this piece of advice out of a magazine, and I’ve carried it around in my purse. Now I’d like to share it with you as I think it sums up this writing perfectly:
“Don’t stress. Life moves on, No matter what you’re doing, or stuck in, or are feeling, it will change. Just breathe and know that nothing is stuck, there’s always hope. Things always move. Don’t stay stagnant.”
Conclusion: A Challenge for the new year
My challenge to you is to look at what you really want but also what you really need. What feels good, what doesn’t and trust yourself to know what is right. If tough times come, embrace them, sit with it and heal from it. If greatness comes, be proud of it and know that you deserve it.
As we step into the new year, let’s embrace each change with courage and hope, knowing that every twist and turn brings us closer to who we are meant to be.