During the summer some of us sisters went on long walks through lavender fields, fern woods, apple orchards, discovering some lovely areas around Surrey but I nearly gave up when it came to the Box Hill final steep climb. I hardly had anything left in me but I was determined to get up the hill, albeit on my hands and knees, especially as there were loads of people sitting on the hill, so embarrassing but I put on my purple hat and puffed my way through while my sis pretended to be a commentator on boot camp! Hilarious! The walks matched so many metaphors in life, like the tortoise and the hare; it’s not the destination it’s the journey; pacing yourself; staying at the pace of others as you cannot make someone be ready but most importantly in relevance to this article…digging deep and pushing forward one step at a time.
It would be so easy for someone else to take care of all the difficult moments in our lives, whether that is to take the grief we feel; guilt; shame; anger; pain etc. It is also fair to want a break when we know we have worked hard and long for something (or someone). Like those of you who have just finished university; in the middle of starting a business; establishing your growing business or just the daily routines of family life. We look for breakthroughs, when the feeling of rays of sunshine come in and everything seems to get easier. We battle with thoughts of ‘Why can’t it be easier?’ or ‘Why can’t someone else do this bit?!’
This is especially true in periods of growth or change when life or people are challenging the very core of our being; our sense of right and wrong; our sense of purpose or when feeling totally derailed (like a carpet being dragged from under our feet).
Life is never easy. It is guaranteed to challenge us, sometimes to shift us and our behaviour patterns for the better and sometimes to shift people into, or out of, our lives. If we want it easy, or life to stop changing think ‘six feet under’. Even if we stopped living so ‘large’ and just undertook an ‘easier’ job, business or relationship, the day to day stuff would still change and grind us down eventually. We would get on our own nerves much less other people getting on ours! So how do we manage? How do we get through the most difficult time or times when we have to push forward yet again, when we are so tired or want more time out, and even a holiday?
Sorry but there is no magic wand or real Wonder Woman or Bionic Man (showing my age!) to take over and do all the things we don’t want to do, however you can look at your life overall and before we all get stuck back into the routine, see which areas we COULD get help in. It could be finding the support network you need for business or home, such as a cleaner once a week (I loved it when I was helping my nephew out, he would come once a week when we were too busy forging a new path with the business). Maybe you need to stay in touch with other people in your situation as back up or create a ‘have a moan and clear your chest’ network!
Ask for help if you need it, not all of us remember to do this. Build that support network. Adjust your food and vitamins as we go into the changing season. Trust yourself to get through as you’ve survived a great deal already, so dig deep, take a big breath and brace yourself for the next phase of your life. How you get through will be up to you, whether scathed or unscathed; exhausted; resentful; learning loads; enlightened; with forgiveness; grabbing hold of opportunities; making clear decisions. Life will be full of hills, valleys and mountains, so let’s pull ourselves together and know that we CAN do it, that’s…if we think we can. Remember my motto ‘I Can Do It’. What’s yours?
