Are you familiar with the phenomenon where you attain a long-awaited goal and then feel completely lost? Like after graduating from college. After becoming engaged or pregnant. After getting promoted. Or leaving an unfulfilling relationship or job.
It feels so good to reach the stage you’ve been aiming for. You think, “I’ve finally done it. This is exactly where I want to be. This is fabulous!”
Right? Isn’t it?
Amid all the hoopla, you reach the moment when reality sets in. You realize with a visceral sucker punch to the gut, “Oh crap, what do I do now?”
That’s what it feels like for me right now. I have completed my treatment for breast cancer, which has been a long, arduous road. And now, other than a few follow up appointments, I am all finished. I am absolutely thrilled.
And yet, here I am, feeling, well, un-anchored. Everything I thought I knew has been turned on its head. The world of possibilities is opening back up and I feel small and overwhelmed in the face of it. Here are just a few of the questions I am pondering right now:
-What should I eat? What are the foods that foster optimum health for me?
-How should my business change to incorporate everything I’ve learned?
-What should my priorities be to promote total wellness from the inside out?
-Do I have what it takes to turn my random thoughts about my experience into a book?
-Have I transformed enough so the cancer doesn’t come back?
As humans, we like to feel as though we have some semblance of control over the way our lives turn out. We like to have answers to our questions. We want to know what’s next because that gives us a sense of security and comfort. But when we enter a new stage of life, we aren’t supported by the daily habits and minutia that normally provide at least a veneer of security. We’re between stages. Clean slate. No bullsh*t.
Although it feels daunting and overwhelming, it’s actually a rare opportunity to re-shape life from a new vantage point. To re-prioritize. To re-build using the best parts from the past and letting go of the parts that no longer work. Even though it’s scary.
I consider this timeframe like a post-it note from the universe telling me to tune deeply inward and follow my inner compass instead of looking out “there” for direction. To live in the questions instead of the answers. To see what unfolds while I’m not working so hard to control everything. To embrace the not-knowing.
If you’d like to join me on my journey, I am starting a newsletter where you will receive bimonthly articles and tips for introspection and inspiration. Visit my homepage at www.un-coaching.com and sign up!
Photo by daniel
No comments:
Post a Comment