What Did You Want to be When you Grew up?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Take a moment...
Really think about it.
Get this, when I was a kid and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up…
I said, “ happy.”
For most of my life, I would say I was very happy.
And then my mom died. She was hit by a car in 2008 and killed instantly.
My heart was broken and my soul was crushed.
I honestly wasn't sure if I would ever feel happy again.
Interestingly, that soul-crushing loss of my most treasured advisor and best friend, led me on a journey to redefine happiness for myself...
... for how I thought my life would look.
One of the greatest lessons I learned was how precious and fragile life is...
And how everything can change in an instant.
What that understanding has done for me is it has allowed me to live with more presence.
Knowing that this could all be over tomorrow --
How do I want to spend my life?
I decided that I wanted to spend my life growing. Growth has become the value I hold with highest esteem because what I have come to realize is that when we stop growing, learning, and loving... our soul dies.
Therefore, when faced with challenges, there are only two options:
Hide and wilt.
Or...
Face it and grow.
So now, as a grown up who has chosen growth and to LOVE life (even after loss), I am asking myself, am I what I wanted to be?
The answer is yes.
While happiness isn't a fix state of being... like I may have hoped as a child, it is the way I experience life. For me it is about:
Growing through what you are going through.
Using pain as a marker for wisdom.
Finding joy in the everyday moments of life that makes us oh so human.
Elevating the consciousness of the planet, starting with myself.
Helping other people find their love for life even after tremendous hardship or loss.
So now I will ask you, are you being what you wanted to be?
Would the younger version of you be proud of you now?
I hope your answer is yes!
If it isn’t what you hoped, what got in the way?
What do you want instead? More joy, more connection, more fulfillment, more happiness?
If so, what is getting in the way of you having that now?
Here's a little existential Food For Thought.
These are the top five regrets of the dying from Bronnie Ware:
"I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me."
"I wish I hadn't worked so hard."
"I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings."
"I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends."
"I wish that I had let myself be happier."
So what will it be? What are you waiting for? What will it take for you to truly live?
Will you wait for it to get worse before you do something about it? Or will you take action now?
Knowing that we only get one shot, I hope you say yes to you… because when you are thriving, everyone in your life benefits!
Take a baby step to living life the way you hoped by watching my new training: 4 Shifts to Move Beyond the Pain and Rediscover Meaning, Purpose & Growth in Your Life. (Ultimately, how to love your life even after loss!)
You can also schedule a Light After Loss Initial Consultation if you are ready to say yes to living and loving your life after whatever life has thrown your way.