Breathe life.

Sometimes, some of the most important lessons to be learnt are the hardest and often take the longest. Even this alone can take a long time to realise.

Filling your life with joy and life bringers is so incredibly important but, how many of us actually do that? How many of us remain in unhealthy, life destroying relationships that kill our joy just because it is the easy option, or we’re trying to please other people? It’s tough when it takes so long to realise you have surrounded yourself with the wrong people but once you realise you have a series of choices you can make, These choices can either provide an escape route from these relationships or leave you very much in the midst of them. At this point however, the decision is down to you. It’s your responsibility.

My life looks so much better when I actively choose to spend my time with people who fill me with joy, life, faith, reality and truth. Things begin to look brighter, more hopeful and I laugh more. I am aware of my worth and all that I can bring to a friendship. Who I am is valued rather than who I need to try and be and that in itself is such a huge relief. Spending time with people who invest in you, lift you up and fill you with joy is how life is supposed to be. Individuals who pull you back into place when you slip into negative behaviours and ways of life.

When I think about my life and the people who fill me with life and goodness, it’s when I am with them that I am my happiest, when I feel the most hopeful and feel like I can take over the universe. I am so grateful to these people for showing me what life can look like if I surround myself with the right individuals. How my life can be transformed just in a few hours of being with them.

So, I urge you all to evaluate your relationships, surround yourself with the life breathers. Focus on you, fill your life with love and positive relationships because it sure is too short to be unhappy and drained of all that is good. YOUR IDENTITY IS MORE THAN WHAT SOMEBODY ELSE THINKS. Nobody has time for negative nellies, be the person you would want to meet.

Be a life bringer.

Just take the step.

This week has seen many changes both good and bad. I will freely admit that this week has taken a vast degree of bravery and courage. But, it’s only Wednesday and i’m out the other side (I think).

Change. It has been said that change is something that I don’t deal with in the best possible manner however, this week has seen more of it than i’d like to see in an entire year and i’m still standing (at least, i’m breathing). They say that life is a journey and not a  destination, well dang whoever ‘they’ are, sure have a point. Tonight I started a new journey and continued walking down another.

This evening upon finding myself in a new setting, it dawned upon me that I perhaps did not understand people as well as I could. Now, i’m always very conscious that each and every one of us is writing our own stories, fighting our own battles and walking very different paths. I have grown to know the difference between sympathy and empathy but, tonight something really reaffirmed this for me. Although I can empathise with another individual  who may appear to be writing a similar chapter to myself, I can never really truly know what’s going on in their mind, how they are honestly thinking or feeling. I cannot and should not tell somebody that ‘I know how you feel’ because we really have no clue at all. For some reason unknown to even me, this had never crossed my mind, if somebody is experiencing a cold and so are you, you automatically assume you know what they’re feeling like when in fact, these symptoms and emotions might display themselves within different people in different ways and this transfers to whatever situation you are in throughout life. I now recognise the impact these few words can have on another individual, I try very hard not to use them. Instead, I share my experiences to offer light into another individual’s life.

There is always a sense of the greater picture, like taking a step back and assessing what’s going on but, it can be quite easy to forget about the bigger perspective and lose sight of where you want to get to. This evening, I was reminded that there is a path for me to follow and there are subtle (and sometimes not so subtle), delicate and reassuring reminders that are sent in my way to remind me that i’m doing the right thing or assure me i’m heading in the right direction. Tonight, I was reminded to trust in the greater picture, and that’s just what I have done.

The message i’m trying to get across this evening is that you can truly know yourself and your journey but, you cannot truly know another human being because you are not in their mind. You should not pry in areas you’re invited but most importantly have faith in the things that do not quite make sense at the time for they will be revealed at a later date and may just surprise you.

Have faith in what you know and take pleasure from sharing this knowledge, for we cannot trust know one another without sharing and the courage to do so.

 

 

 

Just pivot.

This morning I headed out in an attempt to blow the cobwebs away. The sun was shining, the sky almost cloudless and my spirits high (it’s not often all three align on the same time on the same day). So, after several mugs of coffee I headed out to Hilton Nature Reserve. Now, i’m not the strongest navigator in the world however, I always get from A to B – eventually. Today was one of those days. Three wrong turns, a one way system and two three(ish) point turns later I arrived (and it was still daylight and everything!). I was already impressed at this point, it could only get better right?

Now, at the back of my mind I had the minor Thompson waters incident which saw Queenie and I exploring a new place and getting more or less well… lost. So, as I embarked on this new adventure I ensured to take note of some landmarks and defining features (a bit Hansel and Gretel like with their breadcrumbs). I call it realist, other call it extreme.

It wasn’t until I got to the end of a path I realised, the only option was to turn around and head back down the same path. It dawned on me that my entire adventure was a metaphor for life and the way  we live it.

Let me explain. Along my journey, I made various decisions, whether to turn left or right at a junction, whether to take a photo of something interesting or not and whether to follow the sign posts or whether to take my own route. Along the way, I saw some pretty things, I photographed things and I basked in the glorious February sunshine; but walking along the one path meant I could only see things from a particular direction. I reached the end as I said and had to turn around.

I was walking back along the same path but from a different direction, I now had the sunshine in my face, physically and metaphorically. My surroundings were somehow altered. Sometimes we can spend so long beating ourselves up over something or rehashing a situation over and over when all we really have to do is turn around and view it from a different angle to see things differently. All it took was a pivot and the shadows were at a different angle, the water rippled differently, the trees loomed in a different way and the sun shone on my face rather than my back. Which leads me to this…

When there are obstacles in your way, switch perspectives. Walk the path in a different direction. You might be surprised with what you find.