A death, a resignation and a baby... what I know about new beginnings
This month of May marked many ‘milestones’ for me.
Five years since my mum passed away at the age of 59yrs from a chronic illness.
One year since I quit my corporate gig and went all in with my business.
One month since I became a mum to this beautiful little boy George.
Two incredible experiences and an earth shattering one but all involved a lot of new and unknown. Regardless of the experience itself, there are shared learnings I’ve taken from each of these that I am reminding myself of on the reg as I continue to do new things for the first time each day.
They’re simple. But, the best things in life usually are, if you allow them to be.
1) You won’t know until you try.
As human beings our need for certainty is innate within us and so often the inability to control something and subsequent fear of unknown repercussions, often stops us from creating or embracing change.
For me, whether it was craving the assurance I’d make the same money working for myself (I do), being certain I wouldn’t burst into tears when speaking about my mum’s death publicly (I did) or wanting to make damn sure Georgie wouldn’t wake if I stopped rocking him for the fifth hour (he did), I’ve had to remind myself that these are impossible to answer without hesitantly taking the action in question.
And, whilst the outcome hasn’t necessarily been exactly what I’ve wanted, it has always led to personal growth, deeper connections and better ways of doing something *she writes with George strapped firmly to her chest.*
2. You can’t have creativity without challenge.
We all have those people in our lives that nothing ever seems to go wrong for. How did they get so lucky?!
I don’t believe in luck and in my experience have found these people are highly trained pros at focusing on the opportunity their challenges provide rather than wallowing in the c*ck ups themselves.
So much so that they, and you for that matter, don’t even recognise their life’s lows as misfortunes cause they’re too preoccupied playing in the space of ‘where to from here?’
When everything goes to plan it leaves very little room for innovation and creativity. Reminding yourself of this is a mental game changer and can provide the kickstart you need to move forward rather than get stuck in the drudge with everybody else.
3. You have to laugh.
The best way to change the energy of something is to laugh at it. This can be done reflecting alone or in the company of others who can provide different perspectives or allow you to hear how ridiculous / crappy / LOL-worthy something sounds.
I hope these simple truths will serve as a reminder that when nothing is certain, anything is possible, and you’ve absolutely got this.
