Some people can embrace change immediately I'm sure, however I'm not one of them. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy change, but it takes me time to feel like it fits.
When I was in psychotherapy back in the '90s, I remember my therapist saying this to me: "At times change can feel like a new coat. We try it on in the store, and we like it, but it's not until we get home and wear it a few times that it feels like it is ours; that we own it."
I love this; it's a beautiful way to describe change and it definitely resonates with me.
This year there have been many changes for everyone, but of course, I can only speak for myself. By now, I'd expected to have sold my business Upcycled & Co. and be moving on to publishing my book and starting my coaching business. But, that was not to be. What has happened has been the complete opposite. I'm sharing it all over on Instagram too.
For me, 2021 has been a year of resting, recharging and going within. It's been a year of feeling into each day to uncover what my mind, body and soul has needed, and that's ongoing. But, regardless of the fact that it's been nothing like what I had expected it to be, it has been a massive blessing.
With the decision to keep my business and put a manager in to run it, has come a new challenge of letting go a little more, and of trusting that everything will be okay. And with the minor health issues I've had with my vitamin and mineral deficiencies, a respiratory virus, and my recent lumbar sprain, I have been challenged again by having to learn to listen to my body.
What I've had to do most this year is change, and learn how to embrace it. For someone who, as I said earlier, is not that good at adapting to change, it's been difficult at times. Spending weeks in bed, literally, on three separate occasions this year, has meant I've had to slow down. I have had to listen carefully to that quiet voice within and not ignore it like I have so many times before.
Sometimes it really has been one day at a time, and if I'm honest, it's been a little frightening. When I couldn't walk for a few days I was afraid I'd done some permanent damage, and when I woke up feeling as though I couldn't breathe, I thought something was seriously wrong. Each time I had to let go, rest and trust. And that was hard.
The biggest things I have learned have been to listen to my body. To allow myself to rest, to trust and to let go of trying to make things different than how they actually are. With a strong underlying feeling that if I didn't listen, I'd experience something more serious, listening was the only option.
So, I'm going easy on myself and I'm learning to stop pushing myself. Doing so has been a lifelong habit, and it's challenging, but it's doable. I'm embracing one day at a time.
With love,
