Does life happen TO you or FOR you?
Overwhelmed by the pressures of day to day life?
This time 5 years ago, I felt trapped by my life. Overwhelmed by the pressure I had placed upon me. I wasn't conscious of it at the time, but I really felt that I should be the best girlfriend, the best manager, the best friend....that I could be. If I wasn't pulling another long shift at the office, I was in the gym, doing my best to live up to the women I followed on instagram.
I felt that the stress of life was happening TO ME and there was nothing I could do to control it. I felt that everyone was placing expectations onto me; work, boyfriend, family....
And then, meditation found me. I say 'found me', because I felt it did. I kept seeing adverts, leaflets, posters.... and so I followed the signs. I went along to a free meditation course. Every Tuesday without fail, no matter how busy I was, I would go along to the meditation class. For the first time in a long time, maybe ever, I felt peace. I felt joy. I felt presence. Even if only for that hour of the meditation class. I can't say I noticed the dramatic change instantly, but over time things started to shift.
As the weeks passed, it seemed my life situation started to improve. I felt more at ease. The stresses of life were calming. It seemed I had more time, better relationships. One day I met with my boss, and simply explained my situation at work. How many hours I was working, how stressed I was and that things had to change. I simply asked for more support and expressed what I felt was and wasn't achievable. And guess what?! He agreed! He fully supported me! I wept with relief and the vulnerability escaped out of me like a wave.
And in that moment, I had a realisation. It was ME putting pressure on myself all along. No one was forcing me to do anything. Only I felt I HAD to achieve, I HAD to prove myself. And I realised that actually, the external situation had not changed at all. The only thing that had changed was my perception. My perception of my life situation, of external events and relationships. I had chosen to shift my perspective, to see things with more acceptance, to be more present. Not consciously, but on some level, I had chosen this new perspective. And I felt more peace than I had in a long time. Interestingly as I released the pressure from myself, I performed better, my relationships improved, I even lost weight!
That period of my life was the first step of my beautiful, challenging and life-changing journey in living from my heart.
Come and join my unique experiential workshop 25th February to support you in progressing your journey of living from the heart 💜💜💜