I was about to write that 2017 has been ‘one of those years’, but in reflection I realized I’ve had a series of ‘years’, with each year building on the other, layering one learning opportunity (aka challenge) after another.
Every challenge has become the catalyst for an ever-deepening awareness of what is working and what isn’t – a bit more of this please, a little less of that please.All those emotions and uncomfortable thoughts, that I used to sweep under the proverbial rug, are out in the open and have become valuable crumbs that are showing me the best path to follow.
Which is wonderful, until that path veers up a sheer rocky ledge. Something that I meticulously swept under the rug for years by staying busy, became an impassable bolder. The only way around this huge bolder was to make a heart wrenching decision which rippled (or maybe it’s ripped) through mid-2017.
In years gone past I would have been down on my hands and knee’s scrubbing floors, or doing anything that required so much physical energy I couldn’t think or feel.
Today I know that ‘busyness’ only delays the inevitable. So, I packed up my tool box and put into practice everything I now coach and teach, which also includes – “you don’t have to do this by yourself”.
In my bedroom I have a silver platter as a reminder to place all my fears, concerns and questions on it and hand them off to God. I polished this silver platter (literally) knowing it was going to be heavily used and piled it high…and then ‘let go’. It worked!
Those crumbs began to line up and show me the way. Guidance and support appeared and then over time, magic began to happen. I not only tapped into parts of myself that were holding me back, that ‘something’ that had felt so horrendous began to transform. By the time summer rolled around what I had thought was the end, turned out to be the beginning.
Had I not embraced the ‘who, what, where, when, why and how” – the crumbs, that are so often swept under the rug, I would be in the exact same place I was seven years ago – stuck, overwhelmed, busy and ‘pretending’ I was happy and fulfilled. Despite the challenges of the past few years, each year my life has become richer and I now have more clarity and peace of mind than I’ve ever had.
Would you like some of this too?
How about some end of year ‘honework’? Homework is often a stress inducing task to complete. ‘Honework’ is a word I created to offer an opportunity to participants in my courses and coaching to hone a skill, to improve and as Webster dictionary says, “to make more effective”.
So, your ‘honework’ if you choose, is to answer the questions below – an opportunity to review and reflect on 2017. For now, the objective isn’t to solve a problem or overcome a challenge, the objective is simply to raise your awareness.
Who did you, love, inspire, help, nurture, guide this year (yourself included)?
What have you learned this year – what’s worked, what hasn’t?
Where did you go that made your heart happy?
When did you allow yourself to do nothing?
Why did you sweep ‘that’ under the rug?
How do you want to feel?
As my friend Eliana Reyes says, “Don’t expect a better next year, if you are not taking the time to reflect on this one”.
If you could use a little help peeking under that rug, lets talk. Click here to schedule a complimentary 30minute session.
What in this blog resonated with you? Please comment below.
xo ~Suzy
