Happy New Year!
Today marks the beginning of not just a new year, but a new decade. And with that comes a sense of new beginnings and also a sense of urgency around what the year and years ahead will hold, and the part that you will play in making those new beginnings come to life.
As I woke up this morning and set out for a run, I was accompanied by a bunch of thoughts swirling around my head, and they are ones that I have been carrying with me recently and aren't necessarily the most positive in nature. They were nagging and negative and focused on things that I have been contemplating in my life, changes that I wish to see happen and that I am working towards. As with many of the things that we want the most, these changes are ones that need to occur in their own time and cannot be rushed into. So the requirement to be patient and to trust in the process has been huge and something that I have battled with on and off for weeks now. As I continued on my way, I saw another runner approaching me from the opposite direction. As we passed each other we both gave a nod, smile and wave and wished each other a Happy New Year. To anyone driving past it might not have seemed like anything special, or out of the ordinary but for me it was just the opposite. Just that momentary break in my thoughts and the brief connection with a stranger gave me the ability to hit pause and reset. And by doing so, I was able to see what I had been doing that whole time - running underneath a black cloud. I am not trying to say that every day needs to be sunshine and roses and that no matter what life gives you, all you have to do is turn that frown upside down and move on ahead. Not at all. Life often does serve up a big plate of yuck that you absolutely do not want or need, and by no means do you need to learn to like it or lump it. What I am saying is that strength comes by leaning into resistance. I tell my spin participants this all the time - when they work hard against a heavy load, they are getting stronger, and this applies throughout our lives as well. It is the moments in time when we are forced to lean into something that we are not wanting to, or comfortable with when we shine the brightest and are able to grow the most. Facing adversity and moving the needle regardless is what success is all about in my books. And that success could be getting out of bed again to face another day when you would much rather stay under the covers....it could be going to work where you know that you are going to be faced with decisions and situations that are going to test you at every chance you get. It could be knowing that you are going to need to have a difficult conversation with someone you love and despite the fact that this won't be easy it is the conversation that needs to happen for many reasons.
The remainder of my run was spent contemplating this idea, that I could actually find ways to channel the resistance and adversity I had been feeling and use them to help me reach my intended goals. And as I thought more about it, I started to feel lighter than I have in weeks, because I was no longer being weighed down by the negativity, instead I was going to let it go and use the feelings I have been battling as my weapons to forge ahead. I am not kidding myself into believing that this change in mindset will be easy, as the easy part would be to continue to allow the negative to win. Instead I am going to move into this new year with a new found sense of direction and awareness of what my next steps need to be in order to get stronger and closer to the outcomes that I seek. Taking it one day at a time and continuing to Kerri on down the road.....
As I woke up this morning and set out for a run, I was accompanied by a bunch of thoughts swirling around my head, and they are ones that I have been carrying with me recently and aren't necessarily the most positive in nature. They were nagging and negative and focused on things that I have been contemplating in my life, changes that I wish to see happen and that I am working towards. As with many of the things that we want the most, these changes are ones that need to occur in their own time and cannot be rushed into. So the requirement to be patient and to trust in the process has been huge and something that I have battled with on and off for weeks now. As I continued on my way, I saw another runner approaching me from the opposite direction. As we passed each other we both gave a nod, smile and wave and wished each other a Happy New Year. To anyone driving past it might not have seemed like anything special, or out of the ordinary but for me it was just the opposite. Just that momentary break in my thoughts and the brief connection with a stranger gave me the ability to hit pause and reset. And by doing so, I was able to see what I had been doing that whole time - running underneath a black cloud. I am not trying to say that every day needs to be sunshine and roses and that no matter what life gives you, all you have to do is turn that frown upside down and move on ahead. Not at all. Life often does serve up a big plate of yuck that you absolutely do not want or need, and by no means do you need to learn to like it or lump it. What I am saying is that strength comes by leaning into resistance. I tell my spin participants this all the time - when they work hard against a heavy load, they are getting stronger, and this applies throughout our lives as well. It is the moments in time when we are forced to lean into something that we are not wanting to, or comfortable with when we shine the brightest and are able to grow the most. Facing adversity and moving the needle regardless is what success is all about in my books. And that success could be getting out of bed again to face another day when you would much rather stay under the covers....it could be going to work where you know that you are going to be faced with decisions and situations that are going to test you at every chance you get. It could be knowing that you are going to need to have a difficult conversation with someone you love and despite the fact that this won't be easy it is the conversation that needs to happen for many reasons.
The remainder of my run was spent contemplating this idea, that I could actually find ways to channel the resistance and adversity I had been feeling and use them to help me reach my intended goals. And as I thought more about it, I started to feel lighter than I have in weeks, because I was no longer being weighed down by the negativity, instead I was going to let it go and use the feelings I have been battling as my weapons to forge ahead. I am not kidding myself into believing that this change in mindset will be easy, as the easy part would be to continue to allow the negative to win. Instead I am going to move into this new year with a new found sense of direction and awareness of what my next steps need to be in order to get stronger and closer to the outcomes that I seek. Taking it one day at a time and continuing to Kerri on down the road.....
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