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Showing posts from December, 2019

Out With The Old, In With The New

Part of my role at work is to conduct pre-screen interviews for new hire candidates.  One of my favourite questions to ask is "What is something you used to believe and no longer do?"  It is meant to show if a candidate is able to easily change a set way of thinking, or mindset, and to what degree that type of change has taken place in their lives.  I have often wondered what my response would be if asked that same question, and have realized that I do have an answer which has really come to light for me in over the past few weeks. I used to believe that setting boundaries and limits in your life was a sign of weakness or quitting.  I now realize that it is actually the complete opposite.  The strength it takes to understand, accept and acknowledge that you need boundaries and then to establish and respect them is very underrated.  I have always been someone who took pride in being busy, always on the go, cramming days with more than I could honestly accom...

Taking Inventory

As 2019 comes to a close, there is a lot of reflection taking place on the  year that was....and for many of us WHAT a year it was.  There's a sense from the conversations I have had that the past year has provided a lot of challenges and opportunities to really take a deeper dive on who we are, who we want to be, where we are headed and how to ensure that the path we are on will take us in that direction. I absolutely have been taking inventory of things lately, as a sense of inertia has settled in recently and although I know that moments of stillness allow for clarity, they also sometimes cause me distress.  When you have come through a period of time that has seems to have been defined by change and movement, only to slow down it can be unsettling.  For me the what ifs start to crop up...What If this is it for my growth?  What If I am stuck? ..... and it goes on.  And even as I type those words I see how irrational they are, and just give myself permis...

On being soft and strong....embracing femininity

Something that I have been working to wrap my head around lately is the realization that being feminine isn't surrendering....you can be soft and strong, without being weak.  When I was younger, I never really felt like I could relate to feminine girls.  They were so light, airy, pretty, thin....and I felt the opposite most of the time.  And admitting that I felt unsure of myself, and often self conscious was such an uncomfortable and vulnerable place to be, that I made sure I didn't go there too often.  So instead I took on a persona of being edgy, not trying to be "girly" and feminine in the traditional sense.  So instead of feeling like I was being stared at for the things that I perceived to be wrong with me, I was stared at for dressing and looking unusual.  The more unconventional the better.  Don't get me wrong, none of it was much of a stretch...I wasn't wanting to dress in pink and forcing myself to wear black, or anything like that.  To ...

Actions and Reactions, or You Get What You Give...

All it took was being splashed by slush on my way to the subway station this morning.  The street that I live on has grooves in it that catch and hold rain water (and as I discovered today wet slush), and as a result your chances of being sprayed by cars as they drive pass is quite high.  I was on my way to the station, when one driver going past quickly got me.  It wasn't terrible, I was wearing dark pants and my parka took the majority of the hit, but my reaction was immediate.  Threw my hands up in the air and said out loud "REALLY?!?!"  As I reacted, I realized that although it may seem justified, it was out of character for me to react that way.  As were the thoughts of trying to catch up to the driver to say something.  On my commute in to the office I decided to listen to a podcast or two to reset and settle myself, and the one I stumbled across was the one I needed...funny how that happens. It was all about The Law of Attraction and how what y...

Patience is More Than a Virtue

Have you ever a day when instant coffee isn't quite fast enough...tea can't steep soon enough and you are just feeling like all you are doing is waiting for things to happen?  The famous saying of Patience Is A Virtue I feel understates just how difficult being patient can be, and how much strength it takes to be patient. Try as I might to remain present in the moment, I would be lying if I didn't admit to having times when all I can do is think to the next step, next goal, next place I want to be...and then start to feel impatient while I work on getting "there".  I know that I am potentially missing out on things that are happening around me while I step on tip toe and look ahead...but there are just some times when I cannot help myself. I was thinking about this a lot today, as my commute forced me to be patient.  Subway snarls, long commuter line ups and the like all took the control to hurry away from me, and forced me to be still.  And it was hard, but it ...