Hey SLAYERS, September 5 – 11th is Suicide Prevention Week and I am always honored to work with Attitudes In Reverse® in spreading a message of good mental health and suicide prevention. I was recently asked while Zooming into an AIR event what I do to combat my fear. Please find my response below:
Good morning SLAYER! There are two ways to be happy; change the situation or change your mindset to the situation.
New blog goes up Sunday, until then… SLAY on!
Good morning SLAYER! When you let go you create space for something better.
New blog goes up Sunday, until then… SLAY on!
Good morning SLAYER! If you live to only make others happy, your happiness will suffer.
New blog goes up Tuesday, until then… SLAY on!
Good morning SLAYER! Believe in yourself and know that you are worth more than any obstacle.
New blog goes up Sunday, until then… SLAY on!
For most of my life I was not living as the good version of myself. She was down there, somewhere, but I had thrown years and years worth of garbage on top of her so that all I could see was the garbage, and, I believed that all you could see was the garbage as well. Deep down I believed that the good version of myself was still in there, but I didn’t know if I could dig down deep enough to find that good version, and that garbage I kept piling on was slowly eating away at the person I had become. Even so, sometimes she would come out, but she couldn’t stand the weight of all of that garbage and would retreat back down in the darkness she had become accustomed to living.
When I stepped on this path, I made a commitment to dig down and get that good version of me out. This was a rescue mission, to save the good version of me, and to save my life. I wasn’t sure what I was going to find when I started digging, or how far I was going to have to dig to get her out, but I started to do the work to find her, and, to hopefully save her. I surrounded myself with those, like myself, who had already done the work, and those who, like me, where just getting started or on their own path of rescue. Each one of them saw themselves in me, as I did them, and they were able to see the good version of me, even though I wasn’t able to see her on my own most of the time, but, they could see her, and I started to see her through their eyes and with their support, and through them, I was able to start reconnecting with her. I was now more determined than ever, doing what was suggested, to sift through the rubble to get her out. Along the way, after years and years of stuffing her down, I wasn’t sure what I was really going to find when I found her. I had been stuffing her down and stuffing things on top of the good version of me for so long that I had lost who she really was, who I really was, I had stopped caring for that good version of me and had lost touch with who she really was. When I found her I had to get to know her again, or, in all honesty, likely, get to know her for the first time. I did find her, and make a commitment to her every day to do what’s right for her, and to never stuff her down or pile garbage on top of her ever again. Her light and spirit shines through me, she is the good version of me, and I am that good version, and now the good version of me found the good version of someone else, and together they are very happy, and are even better together.
We all have a good version of ourselves, and it’s up to us to let that good version out, to care and nurture that good version and to let that good version shine. If we’re not careful we can lose that good version, or push that good version aside, when we do our heart knows and our light dims, so it’s up to us to light that flame again, or perhaps, see our light through someone else’s eyes. There is good in you, the good in me sees it, and encourages the good version of you to come out and be everything it is meant to be. SLAY on!
SLAY OF THE DAY: Do you believe you are the good version of you? If not why not? If you don’t, where is the good version of you? Do you believe that good version is inside you, waiting to get out? What stops it? Are you stopping it? Why? Has the good version of you gotten buried under the stuff you pile on top of it? How can you get that good version of yourself out? It’s in there SLAYER, focus on the good and see the good in you through the people in your life who only see that good, they will help you find it again, or, for the first time. There is good in you, and that good is you.
S – self L – love A – appreciate Y – you
Good morning SLAYER! When you own your own story you can write a brave new ending.
New blog goes up Friday, until then… SLAY on!
Good morning SLAYER! Your life is your story. Write well. Edit often.
New blog goes up Friday, until then… SLAY on!
I’ve written before how we are the authors of our own story, but many times, even though we have the power to change our story, or write a new chapter, we keep telling the same story over and over. The story we tell may not even be true, it may just be something we were told, and believing it to be true we continue to tell it without asking ourselves if it is, or ever was, or maybe it’s an old story that no longer represents who we are today . And sometimes we tell the story we want to tell, not the one that we should be telling. Our narrative changes over the course of our lives, for most of us, mine certainly has, and it’s important to check in and make sure that ours is up to date.
When I was struggling in my disease my narrative was outdated and one of being a victim. I held onto the past and let it hold me back there. My head told me my narrative was never going to change, so I stayed in the cycle of telling the same story over and over, and reliving time and time again. In the end, each day was just a repeat of the day before, even if I intended to change it, I found myself trapped in the same day. What I didn’t realize back then was that to change my story I needed to make changes. Like take action and actually do things differently, not just think about it, or wish it, without action I would continue to live the same day over and ultimately my narrative would have ended tragically, and it almost did. It’s important to ask ourselves if we’re happy where we are and if not, what can we change to make our lives more in line with what we want, or who we are. It’s easy to keep doing the same things that we always have, but are they making us happy? Are we moving us forward? Is our narrative reflective of who we are today and the goals we’ve set for ourselves? And, have we made changes but still think of ourselves in our old narrative? Is it time for an update?
We have ability to change our narrative whenever it suits us, as long as it is our truth. There’s no limit to who we can be, what we can accomplish or how we live our lives, except the limitations we put on ourselves. We may experience things in our lives that may limit what we used to be able to do, or changes what we can do, but even within those things that are out of our control we still get to decide what narrative we want to tell from that new place. What opportunity lays ahead for us when change happens beyond our control? It’s endless.
Take control of the narrative you tell, make sure it’s up to date and reflective of who you are today, and make sure you share the updated you with those in your life, even those who want to keep us back to who we used to be, share the real you today, and let the narrative of the past go, you have new stories to tell and a new life to live. SLAY on!
SLAY OF THE DAY: Do you tend to get stuck in your old narrative or stories from your past? Do those stories still represent who you are today? If not, why do you continue to tell outdated stories about yourself? What is different today? Was the narrative of your past one that was truly yours, or one that was given to you by others? How did it differ from your truth? How does it differ from you today? Do you update your narrative to make sure you are telling and sharing the most updated version of yourself? If not, why not? Have you thought about the narrative you are telling? Make sure, SLAYER, that you update your narrative, that you are still in line with the story you tell, and that it represents who you are today and where you want to go. We are the authors of our own story, no one else gets to dictate who we are, and, what comes next.
S – self L – love A – appreciate Y – you
I was reminded yesterday, thanks to Facebook memories, which aren’t always a good thing, but yesterday was a good one, that one year ago yesterday my life changed, a change for the better, and a change that has brought me to this place I am today, gratefully so. Personally, a year go, I was not in a good place, a place that did not serve me, make me happy, or, was good for my spirit, I knew I needed to make a change, and had known for a while, but wasn’t sure what the next step was. An opportunity came, out of the blue, and I jumped at it, not knowing what was waiting for me on the other side. The reasons I thought the opportunity was going to be a good one turned out not to be what I received from it at all, what I received was something better, and unexpected. But it got me thinking today about this topic, when things seem like they’re falling apart, they may be falling together. We only know what we know, which, in the big picture, is very little, but we work with the knowledge we have each day to make the best choices we can. That’s all we can do. Many times we get caught up trying to future surf, trying to imagine or wish for what we would like happen when we should be focusing on what we can change in our present lives to possibly get to that place, or a better place for us. When things don’t go as we would like, or had expected, we can fall into depression, anxiety or fear and let the disappointment of what we had thought our lives, relationship or situation was going to be consume us allowing the negative self-talk to creep in telling us we’re stuck, alone or don’t deserve better, but what we should really be doing is accepting what is not meant to be and being open to what is next.
In my experience, life, very often, doesn’t go as planned, but, it always goes as it is meant to. The highs and especially the lows have all been designed for a reason, and each experience has gotten me right here where I am today. Many times those things I thought I needed or wanted, when I look back, likely saved me from heartache or a situation that may have ultimately lead me down some dark roads. But, I’ve found, when I’ve opened my heart, and asked for direction, told the universe that I am ready for change, ready for new things and ready to take action, it appears. Now, that’s not to say the sky is going to open up revealing the secrets to life, but, when we are open, the signs, the people, the opportunities do come, but we have to make sure that we don’t grab for the same ones we have before and take a chance on something new, something different if we want to see change in our lives. A wise friend used to say to me, “the universe will give us the same present over and over, but in different wrappings, just to see if we’ve learned our lesson or, really mean we’re ready for change,” and that was true for me, probably for you too. How many times have we found ourselves in a place and said, “how did I get here again,” the wrapping may have fooled us and we got the same present we had already unwrapped many times. I try to look for those signs, things that I recognize from past situations that didn’t work or got to me a place I didn’t like, but sometimes we get fooled and tricked into believing that something, or someone, are different. So, when things start to fall apart, start to look at things as they are, not how we think they may be, or want them to be, for what the facts are, and see if there may be a reason for them falling apart.
When I look back over the past year, I had no idea what this weekend was going to mean to me a year later, I just took the opportunity that was in front of me and trusted I was being directed to where I needed to be, and I trusted that it was a place where I could let my heart be open and that it was safe, as a result, something beautiful happened that weekend, something unexpected and my life shifted.
When things don’t seem to be going your way, when relationships are ending or when you just don’t seem to be getting anywhere in your pursuit of things, instead of focusing on what may not be working, ask yourself why it may not working and what it may be showing you, what you perceive as the biggest disaster may just bring you to your greatest achievement, if you let go of what you think things should be and trust where you are being lead. SLAY on!
SLAY OF THE DAY: When things appear to be falling apart do you fall into despair or trust that you are being led to something new? Have there been examples in your life when things looked to be falling apart but were actually falling together? What’s an example. When you look back on your life do see examples of this happening that you may not have thought were examples of this? Do you look for new opportunities when something ends or falls apart, or do you tend to follow the same patterns and find yourself in the same places over and over? What patterns do you see in your life that you could break for a different or better result? Look for those places SLAYER, to make changes, trust that you are being given what you need to make those changes, and also look for places that may look different, but may be places you’ve already been that didn’t work. Life is a journey, we are here to learn, but ultimately we are given the direction to get to where we are meant to be.
S – self L – love A – appreciate Y – you
