Out on the Edge
Choosing to Walk a Path Close to the Edge
I got a phone call today from a colleague who over the years has become a friend as well. Her news stunned me. She is separating from her husband, leaving her industry and moving toward a more spiritually based business. I could sense her anxiety, her excitement, her fear, her joy. These are scary transitions and changes, yet she knows that to be true to herself, they are all necessary steps.
She called to ask if I would mentor her through this. She said she realized she was doing what I did years ago and she wants someone to help her negotiate the pitfalls, the surprises, the potholes, the challenges of what she is undertaking.
She was asking me to guide her through that desolate land I negotiated myself years ago.
Facing Resistance, Personal Complexity & Pain
I was stunned because, to tell the truth, when I went through this process of moving from one industry to another, of giving up my job and reinventing myself, of sorting out my personal life and making it more supportive of who I am, I just did it. I did not plan it, it just happened. One day I woke up and just couldn’t do that old life any more. So I started changing things.
It was so hard. I not only had to buck my family and clients and friends but I also had to learn what truly supported me. I had to search my own soul to find out who I truly am in my core. I had to figure out why I was here and how I was to bring that me to the world.
It was hard. But so worth it. So worth it that I have forgotten the pain and effort and fear. Rather like having a baby, I got so enchanted with my new life that the past faded away. I have gotten so involved in the present that the past doesn’t come into my thoughts very often, and when it does, it visits for a short time and leaves.
Honoring My Voice, My Truth
I am grateful to my friend and colleague for reaching out to me today. She has reminded me of the struggle I went through, of the victories I have attained, of the gifts I have been given by listening to my own voice, my own truth and following it even though others around me resisted my changing.
The Edge
An Invitation to Step Close to the Edge
If your life isn’t working, something is out of alignment. If we don’t shift, that situation gets worse. Those nudges we get are there for a purpose. They are there to get us to change, to move on, to rearrange out lives, to reinvent ourselves. It takes courage to do so, but it is, in the end, much more painful to stay stuck.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. ~Steve Jobs
Live. Live your own life. Listen to your truth, step into your own shoes — and walk your path close to the edge.