Written by Francine Houston.
Sometimes you just need to take time and step away. As life comes rushing at you with transitions, and changes, sometimes we want to just “run away.” There isn’t any specific time for taking time and space away. The important thing is to be compassionate with oneself, and allow the world, life, the Universe, the capacity to create the Path for us to follow.
We need to take much needed time away to release, move, settle, release more, and then, reclaim and create a new foundation. If you are an extreme introvert, and even if you aren’t, big changes and choosing a different rhythm to live in, takes a lot of energy and adjustment. It is generally profound and requires making conscious choices that not everyone around you will understand or support.
Life changes: Moving, relationships – new ones coming in, or established ones leaving – career changes, births, death, all bring a need for conscious reflection and a choice, even if that choice is something we feel has been imposed on us by events we feel is out of our control. Truth: Many things ARE out of our control. Relationships dissolve, people move away, friendships ebb and flow. People die. We often do not have control over these things, so, how do we keep moving forward? We have no control over the actions of others, but we DO have control over how we respond. We are resilient. Most of us have survived, to one degree of another. We might be bent, and might feel broken, but we are still here.
To live a purposeful life when we feel broken can seem impossible. It sounds like a trope, but we really are being led, and barriers are signposts along the way to support us in finding where we are going to find that purposeful life, even when we don’t see it right away… Do I have any answers?! Not really. I do know that as I have journeyed through the ups and downs of my own life, that there are some things that have helped me to keep my version of sanity. Writing – journal keeping; conversations with trusted people who tell me the truth, even when I don’t want to hear it; creating a powerful vision for what I would like to have and be in my life, and being patient and persistent- even though I am not sure that I would use either of those words for myself. I am also going to suggest another thing: Faith.
Is this a controversial word? Yup, it isn’t something we are “supposed” to talk about in polite society. Oh well! I am going to call “faith” something that you access that gives you strength and guidance. I see it as something that is an internal know-ing and guidance that ALL of us have access to. This “faith” supports our ability to find our way through the challenges, gives us personal strength and perspective and supports the changes and the growth we require as we move into a new life.
Whatever you do, as you approach changes in your life, trust that everything comes ultimately as an opportunity. I’m not saying it’s always fun, or fair, or that it feels good. Sometimes it is downright crappy, it doesn’t feel fair, and we can feel miserable. It is my observation, though, that if you can see your way clear to change your language, your perspective: to see how it is happening – to rise above the emotion – after you’ve had your temper tantrum or good solid cry of course – and seek the opportunity to find a perspective shift, then even the challenging situation can be pivoted, and you can thrive.
About Francine:
