Scrolling through photos on my phone this weekend, I came across this one. It was taken in September 2020 in the home I’d created six years earlier when my husband of 25 years and I separated. Three months after the divorce was official, I lost my dad. I lost my mom in April 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. It was the second time I lost her — she had Alzheimer’s Disease and no longer knew me. And my kids, now young adults, had lives of their own.
With every change, the me I thought I was changed too.
I was so identified with my roles of spouse, stay-at-home mom and daughter that every change sent me on a journey to discover who I am without those roles. I’d forgotten.
My work was to re-identify with Me – the inner Me – the Me I was before I shaped myself into each of those personas.
We can’t avoid change but we can grow through it.
Change can be scary. We don’t know what’s on the other side. But what if the other side is great too (or instead)?
I’d always encouraged others to follow their heart. I was their cheerleader. I saw their potential and tried my best to help them see it too. Every change I experienced left a void, an opening, an opportunity to do the same for me.
The more I began listening to and trusting my heart, the more whole I felt.
Change isn’t only about loss. It shows you what remains amid the change — friendships, family, colleagues, work, play…
Change can help you define what’s important to you.
Change offers an opportunity to go after what you’ve always wanted. How exciting!
Fast forward one year, September 2021, and I was in the UK beginning a lifelong dream to travel. Just that, travel. There’s no firm plan and no firm return date. In fact, there’s no home to return to. I gave it up along with most of my belongings. I’m simply following my heart to see where it leads me.
A lot of people say I’m brave to do this.
The courageous part began many years ago when I began saying Yes to my heart. That once timid but knowing yes is now a continual wholehearted YES I trust and live by. Now I just feel like Me, living my life the way I chose to. Heartfully happy.
Five months into this adventure and I wouldn’t change a thing — not even the most heartbreaking change because it was the catalyst to reaching this moment in time. I see now that it had to happen for the growth to occur.
Until you say Yes to your heart, it’s like you’re standing on the threshold, hand on the doorknob wondering what’s on the other side.
We’ve all experienced change these past two years. The question is, will you allow the change to open you up to the possibilities that await behind the door?
If your heart had a voice (and it does), what would it want you to do? Ask it and find out.
If you’d like my help, I’m here for you.
