Mindset (part 3) Roadblocks to Pathways

Life has offered me many opportunities to turn roadblocks into new pathways. As I make my way down the highway of my life I must shift and be flexible to changes beyond my control. I also must be willing to take risks and embrace new opportunities and ways of being to shape and reshape the kind of life that fills my soul.

Sometimes I can get around the roadblock and keep on trekking down the same road. Other times I needed to turn around and find a new pathway. Finding a new pathway then, taking steps on those roads, have been where some of my hugest shifts have taken place.

Sometimes I sit, pause, and recognize I am in a place of choice.

As young person I remember sitting at the crossroads of life choices. I was reflecting on my career forward. I was considering university and also joining the military at the same time. I had both as options and chose to go to Mount Saint Vincent University where I pursued the Child Studies Program. Shortly after I made my choice, I learned my mom was very ill with cancer. She would die during my first three months of university. Her life and death had a profound influence on my life. I believe she helped shape my deepest connections with living life from my deepest values. I believe this even though my values and my mom's would not always match as I moved my life forward.

As I sit here this morning I reflect on all the wonderful memories of university life. All the people I crossed paths with, I am grateful for that choice. I am not able to imagine the life of the path's not taken and I am good with that.

Mount Saint Vincent University--Motherhouse 1979

University life came with many challenges. There were many times I struggled trying to find my way. Yet, it is precisely those struggles and the fears that came with those struggles that have been my greatest teachers in my pursuit of living the life I am meant to live. My therapist told me that it is helpful to think of pain as a fire alarm that is calling us to act versus a stop sign inviting us to turn around.

Life's journey has seen multiple deaths and multiple births and rebirths in how I understood, and now understand my place in the world. To be truthful, I don't believe I will totally understand my place in the world. Yet, I will continue to pursue the exciting journey of shifting and changing how I stand tall in the world as I engage in how I want to live life through the lens of love.

I am always learning about myself, and I am so grateful for my curiosity in terms of how I meet my day. As I work to move my life forward through the lens of love I run into the internal roadblocks created by my mindset. I often look to create new pathways in my brain by experiencing things in new and vibrant ways. Over the past weekend I was gifted with the opportunity to have some members of my family at my place. We were joined with some WW (Weight Watchers) people and my best friend Paula. Nine of us in total gathered at my place. Eight of us went kayaking and we all joined in lively conversations and breaking bread together after our kayak adventure. It was something that came about in a weird and wonderful way that challenged me to be open to the gifts the universe was offering. The gift of bringing all my worlds together and experiencing love and safety in the home I am creating. The physical house/space and the home of my body and soul.

I will tell you the days leading up to the event was fraught with anxiety. I leaned on my understanding that every stressor that I was experiencing has a history. That keeping myself in safety, new brain or as WW (Weight Watchers) calls cold state, was paramount to good decision making. I stood at the crossroads and asked myself: Am I going to allow myself to go back in time to the 'then and there' and allow that to shape my choices around this experience? or Am I going to be present in the 'here and now' and lean on all the great work I have been doing to shift the way I respond to the world?

I was willing to sit with my distress and accept the risks that came with bringing all these folks together and I was willing to shape the things that were in my control. I was also willing to allow the universe to bring whatever weather that might grace us.

We were gifted with a calm day on the waters. It was a dream come true. All these kayaks!

then the kayakers!

and our guests

What a terrific day. I am so blessed to have my sister in my life and have her to support me by bringing five kayaks to the event. Making it possible for all of us to be on the water. I have been dreaming of an event like this for over 30 years and by saying yes to this opportunity this bucket list item has been ✅ completed!

I am grateful that my sister in-law, my nephew and his husband join the fun!

I appreciate my WW (Weight Watchers) folks for seeking me out and wanting to come on this adventure and I am always grateful for the stability Paula brings into my life.

Our family afternoon included washer toss!

Sunday my sister and Sister-in law enjoy a lovey visit at ......

In 2013 I had a choice to continue the highway I was currently on or take a different path. I stepped my toe onto a new highway that has led me to live a life from my values. My values anchor me. New opportunities have come my way. Lots of choices as to how I will live the life I want to live. These choices often come with distress. I have been and continue to be willing to sit in the distress and make decisions that will serve me for the long haul of living a life that is important to me. I set S.M.A.R.T goals which have led to healthy habits. I live a life of committed actions that are in line with my values no matter what circumstances I find myself in. The results speak for themselves. I got to have a beautiful weekend with family, friends and new to me peeps. Building beautiful memories that support living through the lens of love.