Life calls us to the unexpected daily. Each day we can answer the call. Some days we embrace the unknown and find excitement and possibility. Other days, from our first cup of coffee to the last light of the sun, we dig trenches, hoping to hide so change won’t find us.
But change always does. And even though change can be hard, it is necessary. If we want to take a different approach, we must change. We rarely get to say, and hardly ever get to know, what change will require of us.
Without my life having taken the shape it has, I wouldn’t have danced on the edges of my comfort zone repeatedly. I realized years ago that I am someone who seeks out edges. I’m not comfortable being comfortable for too long. Some of my discomfort comes from my positive courage and passion that is always wanting to reach deeper into the world. But some of it comes from the traumas I have lived through and the need to revisit tension and fear in the hope of a different outcome. My life has become about helping people find a different way through difficult circumstances and more ability to rest in ease. I have gleaned from my hardship a capacity with truth and authenticity. In my past there were plenty of days of collapse and fear. Those days are far fewer now, but I still have them. More often now there is a knowing and an awareness I can maintain during my struggles. As everyone, if I fall in too far, I lose that too. But there are lots of hands to hold me and pull me back across the line.
I always say that at the end of the day when we look in the mirror, we can only answer to ourselves about whether we feel good about what we have and have not done. For me, the edges continue to be worth it, for the lessons they teach me and for the strength I gain.
I have been sharpened by the edges I have lived on. I have made it through circumstances I shouldn’t have more than once. I’m always striving to do more – again partly from the part of me that still, in some deep place, doesn’t know that the struggle can end. For years I didn’t know that life was mine for the living – but by living through those beliefs into the reality of a life well lived and loved, I have laid the groundwork to turn my wounds into tools. I was hellbent on not having my hardship be in vain. If I could help even one person with a similar pain or loss, then I was willing to keep on walking through mine. The thought that I could be of service is part of what got me through. Now my tools are honed and speaking. Now my hands are capable and willing to show others what I can perceive. Those who come to my classes find me generously available to guide them in ways they hadn’t expected.
Life calls us to the unexpected daily.
Each day we can answer the call.
What is calling you?
Are you ready to answer to it?
What is holding you back?
Are you ready to set that aside?
Also published on Medium.
