It's dark, its cold and I feel numb. I don't understand this place, it's unfamiliar, but somehow I keep moving, one foot in front of the other. Maybe I see light ahead, but it fades in and out, so all I can do is keep going because stopping would mean dying.
Fear takes our breath away. It can absorb and control thoughts that harm us. This dis-ease feels like an epidemic at times. So how can we fight back. How can we identify our fear and begin to direct our minds down another path?
Perhaps this journey starts with allowing ourselves to seek and direct change instead of change directing us. It's difficult to operate in a sphere of unknown. Naturally we don't like change and frankly, it's a word that simply causes stress. Yet this place of change that we don't want to visit, is at the core of all we can be. I think of my six decades on this planet and all the life experiences and adventures I have lived, yet its humbling to know, that it still only represents the boundaries and circles I have created.
What could our possibilities be if we looked favorably at what we don't understand or know? How could we walk into the darkness trusting and believing that we can find our light? And what's the point anyway?
I often wondered why I was so driven to chase one goal after the other. Sampling ways to charge myself, to find passion and feel fulfilled with accomplishments and results. I know for me, these bursts of passion and purpose drove me outward and sometimes inward. But regardless I still wondered what my life was to be. I have come to learn that a place, a purpose, a sense of happiness come in the most subtle ways. That they are not always defined and measured in traditional forms, but are built upon over the course of a lifetime. This is a journey that evolves and grows as we continue to move beyond our borders and into unknown places. And when we "travel" further we begin to uncover new circles, new beliefs and new support systems that encourage us forward. This is a path to self-empowerment where we find our strength and courage to persevere. The unknown becomes normal and a place where we begin to discover all that we can learn.
So, I am often asked, "Sally, what is your advice and how do can one start making change when work and home must remain the same?" Here are some simple yet subtle ways to shift a mindset. Change begins with how we choose to see things.
- Be sure your foundational priorities are set & daily habits are routine
-Create aspirational ideas that meet mind, body & spirit needs
- Connect with groups outside your "tribe"
-Try something new every week
-Greet strangers by making eye contact & smiling
-Listen to learn instead of to reply
-Show compassion & be encouraging regardless of your days events
-Find little adventures daily that make you smile
-Be accountable to your emotional & physical health
-Walk with your head up & radiate outward
-Love yourself so you can give to others
-Hug someone every day
Be your beautiful unique self. Someone else is already taken!
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Sally Vantress-lodato. Thank you for your part in this journey!