Weathering the Storm

YOU WILL NOT BE THE SAME AFTER THE STORMS OF LIFE;

YOU WILL BE STRONGER, WISER AND MORE ALIVE THAN EVER BEFORE!

BRYANT MCGILL

As I mentioned in my last post, I am taking some time to work on me and find balance in my life.  But what does that really mean.  For me, at this moment in my life, it means I must learn to listen to myself.  Sleep when I am tired, eat when I am hungry, laugh when I am happy and cry when I am sad (or happy in my case).

For me, the noise of life started to cancel out my ability to hear myself.  I was being driven by forces so external to me that I forgot that I am the driver in my life.  Being responsible and accountable for my actions has always been something very important to me, but I have never really thought about being responsible and accountable to me for what I need.  To be frank, I thought an attitude like that was selfish when in fact it is far from it.

We have to give ourselves the space and permission to feel the way we need to feel and to do the things we need to do.

Many of you are aware that my sister and brother-in-law have a cottage (which I basically treat as mine but don’t tell them I said that….).  We refer to this slice of paradise as the Little Red House or the LRH (I actually named my jewelry business after it).  It is a hundred-year-old wooden structure that sits on the shores of the Bras D’or Lakes and has, for a century, weathered the storms that have come its way.  It has done so, in my estimation, by positioning itself to do so.  What I mean is that the front of the house does not face the water as many properties would, instead it sits at right angles to the water.  The front still allows for a beautiful view of the lake but the small windows on the side of the house protects it from the winds that can whip off the bay.

I want to be the LRH.  I want to position myself to take full advantage of the beauty of life yet ensure that I am strong enough to weather the inevitable storms that will come along.  I will do this by once again listening to myself: nurturing by mind, body and soul with the things and people I love.

This is not a difficult equation, but it is one that we so often get wrong in life.  So, I set a challenge to you as well.  Check to see if you are listening to yourself, you might be surprised by how much you have to say.