What To Do When Life Knocks You To Your Knees

What To Do When Life Knocks You To Your Knees

Life is constantly evolving, swirling around and sometimes sideswiping us. We can feel dented and bruised but we carry on regardless.

But once in a while life knocks us off our feet. We find ourselves on the floor desperately looking around for something to hold on to. If we are fortunate, we have friends or family who can hold our hand whilst we are down. Their love and support can stop us falling into the abyss which threatens to swallow us whole.

Sometimes we choose to stay down for a while, unable to muster the strength to pull ourselves up. I have in my mind the picture of someone lying in the middle of the floor, there is furniture all around but it is out of reach. No matter how far they stretch out their hand, the means to pull themselves up is too far away. They can see it, but cannot find the strength to move towards it.

So what do you do when life knocks you?

Well, you can stay down or … you can treat it as a knock on the door.

“You decide whether you want to open the door or stay on the floor”

The floor is a small place where everything looks huge and insurmountable. To open the door you need to stand up no matter how difficult it may seem. Your friends and family can help you stand and hold your hand for a while but just like a baby taking it’s first steps at some point you need to walk alone. The first step is the hardest but once you take it you will find momentum builds and you can walk more freely.

You may not run in the same way as before and perhaps for a while you may walk with a limp. But if you stand you will discover a strength you never knew you had. A strength that will become the foundation of your life as you walk forward with faith in yourself and the power to create your life in any direction you choose.

Because in fact there is more than one door in front of you and each one has a new experience behind it. Imagine if you had X-ray vision and could see what was behind each door before you opened it – what would you like to see?

Hold gently to this vision and open a door – whichever one feels right to you. Then walk through and know that even though you cannot see the entire journey, each step will take you closer to your vision because it’s your feet which are walking the path.

Your feet, your power, your choice.

FEAR – False Evidence Appearing Real

FEAR – False Evidence Appearing Real

It can be scary to make a change when you can’t see how your life will look if you choose a new path. If I change my job, what will the work entail? What will my colleagues be like? Will my new boss be supportive? If I move to a new neighbourhood, will I make new friends? Will my children settle into their new school? And if my relationship breaks up, where will I live? How will I raise my children on my own? I can’t imagine my life without my partner …

All of these thoughts are valid but they have one thing in common.

Fear. Fear of the unknown; fear of loss; fear of making a mistake. Call it anxiety if you wish but it’s essentially the same thing.

The ‘funny’ thing about fear is that it isn’t real!

How can it not be real you might ask?

It feels scary, I’m anxious and my heart is beating faster. So it’s real to me!

Let’s look at the word fear for a moment.

F.E.A.R.

F – Fear

E – Evidence

A – Appearing

R -Real

False Evidence Appearing Real

Our brain is hard wired to let us know when we are doing something different. When we are stepping out of our comfort zone, our brain releases hormones into our body to tell us to be on alert. Danger!

But the truth is we are not usually in any real danger. Our thoughts about change activates a chemical/hormone release to let us know something is different. And because we don’t have solid information, we fill in the blanks from our imagination. It is the story we tell ourselves about what might happen which causes us anxiety.

The first word in our definition of fear.

False = untrue

The second word is Evidence.

Imagination is a wonderful thing. We dream, we imagine, we create and to us it feels very real. Your brain needs to categorise information and because when something changes, information about the future is missing, it predicts the future based on the past.

But there is a big difference between tangible evidence and imagined evidence. Take a moment to check what is true and let your brain catch up.

The third part is Appearing Real

The anxiety we feel about the change we are making leads us to believe that what we are thinking is real.

Your brain doesn’t know the difference between reality and imagination so it will react based on what you think is real. What appears real. Reality is subjective and dictated by your perception. Your perception is based on your thoughts about something and therefore although you feel afraid, anxious or nervous, it is simply a physical reaction to your thoughts. And you have the power to choose your thoughts!

So fear is simply a reaction to a story we tell ourselves about what might happen.

What if you were to tell yourself a different story? One which empowers you to embrace the changes which are a constant part of life? What would your response be then?

Fear will keep you stuck. A bit like the hedgehog which curls up into a ball when it sees a bright light. Or the spider in your room which stops still in the hope you won’t see it!

You are powerless to decide the outcome when you are stuck. Events will unfurl around you sweeping you along whether you like it or not.

Your power lies in the story you tell yourself when faced with a change.

The response you choose will determine your reality.

Reclaim your power today and live with the freedom which comes with choice!

How Do You Respond To Change?

How Do You Respond To Change?

We are taught to hold on tightly to our important possessions, to guard and protect them from others who may wish to take them from us. We even insure them against possible loss as if by doing so we can keep their value with us always. And we do the same thing with the people who are important to us.

As if by holding them close we can stop them from slipping away.

But in a world which is constantly evolving, where seasons come and go and where birth and death are a natural part of life, the one thing we can rely on is that things will change. It is our response to that change which determines our happiness.

Depending on your family or model of the world, the absence of something, or someone, is seen as a loss to be mourned. But what if we looked at their presence as a gift to be thankful for?

What if instead of being sad when someone leaves our life, we decide to be grateful for the new possibilities which are coming our way?

Have you ever held a butterfly in your hand? Such a delicate creature that we cradle it ever so gently. If we were to hold tightly we would destroy the life of this beauty who has chosen to sit with us for one moment. So after a second of wonder and with a smile on our face, we open our hand to let it fly away. We don’t where it goes or for how long it will live but we are thankful for the one moment of perfection.

Life is as fragile as the wings of that beautiful butterfly and things will change. Holding tight to how things were will keep you stuck. The times I have been stuck are the most painful times in my life. However, I have learned that the minute you take a deep breath, raise your eyes from the ground and look ahead with a steady gaze; the moment you decide to look for the possibilities rather than focus on the loss, is the moment your reality starts to alter.

You have a choice to make.

Hold tight to the way things were and you will feel pain or embrace the possibilities which come with change and you will feel joy.

Your power lies in your decision – this is where your freedom lives.

The Power Of Now

The Power Of Now

Have you made a New Year’s Resolution for this year? Is it the same one you made last year or the year before?

Many of us use the start of a new year to recognise the things that aren’t working in our lives, or the things we want to be different. We believe that if only something was different we would be happy. That our lives would be perfect or at least more to our liking than they currently are. And in fact a New Year’s Resolution is a great place to start on a new road.

We have the best intentions in the world at the start of a new year – as if just turning the page of a calendar will mean that we will take the action this year that we didn’t manage to achieve the last time around. My question is this: what will make this year any different than the last?

The only thing that can be different is you!

You are the one who sets the goals and therefore you are the one who decides whether to achieve them or not. However, the best intentions in the world will not change your life unless you have the conviction to take an action every day which will draw you closer to your goals. It may feel like it’s hopeless; that your goal is too big. Or that you have tried so many times before and never been able to achieve it, so why bother.

But you can change your life! You have the power in this moment – The POWER of NOW.

Every moment you are in is NOW. And now is all there is.

Let me explain.

Let’s say your New Year’s Resolution is to exercise more and make healthier food choices (this is one of the most common New Year’s Resolutions and has been for many years).

However, you have food left over from Christmas and the New Year celebrations in your fridge. You have a choice to make. You can delay the actions which will take you closer to your goal and eat up the leftovers as you hate to waste food: or you can donate the food to a homeless shelter, friends or maybe to a family in your street who is less fortunate than you.

Let me ask you this: Which is more wasteful? For you to eat it and then feel bad about yourself? Or to allow others to enjoy your gift?

The POWER of NOW is exactly that. NOW! This minute. Not on Monday or when the leftovers are eaten up; NOW. The second you allow yourself to wait, to procrastinate or to put it off … is the second you decide your resolution is not important enough to prioritize at the top of your list.

That’s not to say you can’t start where you are and still achieve your goals. The key is to choose what you want to achieve and to keep choosing it every day. Only by this consistent and determined method will you reach your goals. You cannot do it once in a while, when you remember, or when you feel like it. It has to become a habit; an action you take every day. It is the simple act of choosing and acting from that choice over and over again which will deliver the results you want.

If you are not sure of the actions you need to take to move you closer to your desired outcome then ask for help. Talk it through with a Life Coach, a close friend or family member and ask them to keep reminding you of your goal. Sometimes life gets busy and stressful and we can forget our purpose in creating a New Year’s Resolution in the first place. Having a friend or mentor on board as a support can really make a big difference.

You do have another choice. You can decide to make a New Year’s Resolution and then not take the action to achieve it. You can blame the food in the fridge, the weather outside, lack of time or any number of other forces outside of yourself. However, none of these have any power in your life – only you have that. And therefore the only person who can make a change or continue exactly as you are; is you.

Will you take action today? Or will you look back in several months or a year and understand how different your life would look NOW if you had spent 2015 taking the daily steps toward your New Year’s Resolution? Imagine how that would feel? To know you could have reached your goals if only you had chosen the POWER of NOW.

The Power is in Your Hands. Choose NOW. Decide to change your life. The choice is yours and yours alone. You can do it.

CHOOSE YOUR POWER NOW!

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