March is also known as the birthday month in my agenda, because, well, it’s my birthday on the 5th. Why am I telling you this? Next year is going to mark a big one for me, and before I change the numbers in front and in the back of my age, and move on to another decade (yes, a whole decade!), I really want to share with you some of my life’s lessons.
It is legitimate to say that after nearly 40 years of experience, sharing wisdom and providing examples of what to do and what not, may help the less experienced (aka the “oh but you are still so young” generation). Don’t sigh 😉 I know some of you are going to tell ME exactly that same phrase 🙂
Email to a Younger Self
Things happen…
… and they happen for a reason. The people you meet, you meet because energies are meant to connect. The places you have been to; the timing of these journeys; the places you were at the time you were there – these are all little dots in the infinite wisdom of the universe.
Things happen because they happen.
Sometimes they just happen, and sometimes they happen just.
The past is not your future!
Even though these things happened to you, do not let them dictate who you are, or what you have become. Use them to find answers; allow yourself to acknowledge the role that past events had in Your Life, and then move on.
Learn from your experiences. Connect the dots. Find answers. Do not, I repeat, do not under any circumstances take these past events as a reflection of your future.
Unless, yes unless, you are hiding in a loop and have absolutely no wish to take action. Then the choice is yours. Always.
You are not the sum of your mistakes
Stop being a prisoner of your past self. Some things may take a while longer to understand and work on. That is perfectly OK. Extract the lessons you need to obtain from the past, and then see how you can really work with it.
It is perfectly OK to get help. You cannot always understand everything, because you are too closely involved. If you seek outside assistance, professional I mean, your perspectives shift. They shift a lot! Suddenly, many things will become much clearer. I promise.
Grow
All the time. Fear is there to be conquered, and there will always be some degree of uncertainty involved. You don’t have to take high risks or make huge decisions – start small, make the degree of uncertainty comfortable for you at first. Then move on from there.
There is going to be a lot of crap until you reach your final destination – which, BTW, is still the journey itself rather than the actual arrival.
Knowledge only comes to those who seek.
Change is possible
Do what needs to be done! Find out what really motivates you and don’t stop until you find a way to get there. Again, get help if you need it.
Be OK with uncomfortable moments. It happens. Remember, failures are only unaccomplished successes. They are feedback. The universe in its infinite wisdom is sending you a message. Listen!
Own it
Don’t limit yourself by thinking that it’s too late for change, or that you are too old, too rich or too poor, or any other “bla bla bla” … just own it. One word: attitude.
My attitude has always been, if you fall flat on your face, at least you’re moving forward. All you have to do is get back up and try again. Richard Branson
Learn to be alone
I acknowledge that my life would be different if I were married, engaged, or whatever relationship status I would have with another person.
Other girls have husbands to do this and that – I do this and that with my own hammer. Ask all the IKEA closets in my house (well, all except for one…)
If there is one thing that you take away let it be this: find a way to be OK with being alone. Experience what it is like to travel alone, to get through some rough spots alone. It’s going to give you backbone, a truly different perspective about yourself.
Who are YOU? What does it feel like to be you when you are alone?
Again, if the answer doesn’t make you happy, change.
Do more of what makes you happy…
…and less of what doesn’t. Although this is pretty straightforward and easy, imagine that what is easy to do, is also easy not to do. (Jim Rohn)
Help more
Yogi Bhajan says that “you have to understand the purpose of life. The purpose of life is to do something that will live forever.”
I call it creating a legacy.
What do you do every day?
Is there something you do that will last beyond you?
Why not?
If our goals only serve ourselves, then achieving our goals will only make us happy for a moment. But if your mission is to serve others, then not only will you leave a legacy of giving, but you will be more fulfilled in life. The point is this: What will make you fulfilled is to grow and to give. Tony Robbins
Conclusion
It is not as much what you did in the past, as what you are going to do in the present to live. Explore different sides of yourself; maybe take a spiritual path; try something new; reinvent yourself. Again, it does not have to be big. Maybe just try that new hair colour you always wanted, or change one habit. The main thing is to have the least regrets possible when you come to the end of your journey here on earth. Inevitably there will be a few, but make them a couple, not many.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
Sat Nam
