“World, I want to leave you better I want my life to matter
Have I the courage to change? Have I the courage to change today?” - Sia, Courage to Change
2021, 6 months in, 6 months to go.
I don’t know about you. But sometimes I find myself overwhelmed by the sadness & uncertainty in the world. Injustices. Unfairness. Pain. Sorrow. Inherited chaos. Collective trauma. And sometimes I find myself anxious. What’s next? Another war? Another soul taken? Another virus variant? Another heart wrenching news?
It is those moments that I shut down and do nothing. It is those moments that I feel insignificant. It is those moments that I lose track of the big picture, and how my part is needed. It is those moments that I hate myself for everything that I’m not doing. It is those moments that I carry the most guilt for the privileges that come with living in Canada. I say this fully knowing of my radiant brown skin, tiny but mighty body, and that I am a woman.
It is those moments that I lose hope.
I pause for a breath… I’m haunted by the idea that if we lose all hope, we give up before we even try.
So, I wonder, is hope really the moral choice here? Can hope save me? Can hope save us? Then I wonder, with hope, how do we get there from here? It feels like a daunting long journey. Unknown. Uncertain.
I stop myself. I take a breath. I bring myself back to hope. Remind myself that there’s always uncertainty. It’s just a matter of which uncertain path am I willing to take? Come with me, would you? Pack some courage, joy, and love with you on this journey. Tell me, which uncertain path are you willing to take?
Other days, I find myself calm, hopeful, and filled with joy & trust.
The laughter, giggles and conversations at a park. People indulge in ice cream without calculating the calories or feeling guilt. Friends gathering over food. A young family playing. Couples leaning towards each other. A cyclist biking blissfully feeling the cool wind they are piercing through. The end of the day Netflix binge. A good book. A walk in nature. A first kiss. The 10,000 kiss that is infused with deep love. A loved one’s hug. A client’s thank you note. A stranger's smile. A new born’s peaceful breaths. The quiet moments before the day starts. The simple mundane moments.
It is those moments that I feel hopeful. It is those moments that I feel meaning. It is those moments that bring me peace.
Sometimes I think, if I hold on to the “happy & hopeful” moments, am I pretending that all of this suffering doesn’t exist? Or is it that I found peace within, the hope within, that all of the sudden I can show up and hold the grief, the love and the vision for a “better world”.
Perhaps hope is not to go and change the entire system. But to take one step at a time. Allowing the responsibility to be a response-ability; the ability to respond to life, people and events.
For me... I vow to show up and reclaim my power and stand in my sovereignty. I vow to use my words and voice to speak up, write and teach. I vow to keep building my business in a way that aligns with my values and vision for our humanity. I vow to radically love and accept myself as a rebellious act to create a new earth.
How does self love connect to changing the world you ask?
It is that constant harshness on ourselves for not being more "focused", “creative”, “successful”, or “further ahead”.
It is that constant judgement on our world for not being more fair, safe, equitable, or on top of its problems.
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there." - Rumi. This field, to me, is of acceptance and peace with what is. No trying to change, force, or alter anything. Just allowing where you are on your journey, to be the exact right place of where you need to be. Allowing where we are collectively to be the exact right place of where we need to be.
Pause. Breath in. Sigh it out. Feel the Earth beneath you.
One of my favourite Disney movies is The Lion King, one of my biggest epiphanies was watching it as an adult when it came out in 2019. It was Simba's journey:
Born to be the King.
Feels like something is wrong with him because he can't roar.
His father dies. He thinks it's his fault. He leaves. (Trauma, shame, guilt, feeling of unworthiness...
He meets Timon & Pumbaa. Starts living the Hakuna Matata life. Starts eating bugs! (aka goes off his "destined" Path/Dharma/Purpose.)
His Dharma finds him again, and he goes back to be the King.
This teaches me to be in Trust, Integrity, and Divine timing. You or me, going "off the Path" IS STILL still on the Path. Because it's all a part of it. You can go off and eat bugs, and live the Hakuna Matata life, and come back, in Divine timing, to do what you're here to do. Perhaps that trust is not in the certainty of what we desire, but in cultivating radical self-trust allows us to live courageously through all situations and the uncertainty of life.
“You're not alone in all this You're not alone, I promise Standing together we can do anything” - Sia, Courage to Change
Pause for one breath, and name three things you're celebrating from your journey in 2021 so far.
Following The One Thing method, here are some questions I always ask my clients to gain clarity. I invite you to bring your journal and ask yourself:
1. What are my biggest dreams for our humanity, that I may or may not see in my lifetime? (think of who do you want to help? What do you want to do for them? What pain/s do you want to solve? What injustice do you want to right?)
2. How can I participate and be a part of the shift?
- Someday Goal: What is the ONE thing I want to achieve/be a part of someday?
- Five-Years Goal: Based on my someday goal, what is the ONE thing I can do in the next 5 years? - One-Year Goal: Based on my five-year goal, what is the ONE thing I can do this year? - Six-Months Goal: Based on my one-year goal, what is the ONE thing I can do in the next 6 months? (this could be an inward “action”, or an outward “action”. They are equally needed and valued)
Take one more breath, and name your intention for the rest of your 2021. Share your commitment with us here in the comments, or to someone you trust.
Release the pressure of “committing to it”, the way we’ve been programmed to “commit”. Allow space for your humanity, fill it with love, hope and some sparkles.