Embrace the Challenge

I have learned so much about myself in the past decade, that I barely remember who I used to be.  The years of struggle and hardship now have faded into a distant memory of what seems to be someone else's life.

Now I understand that every challenge has been an opportunity for me to grow beyond anything I could have done otherwise.  My greatest achievement has been to see and appreciate every lesson.

Growth - Expansion

Many years ago I heard Abraham-Hicks say "you can never be less than what you have become".  It resonated deeply with me when I heard it, but I did not fully realize what it meant until I tried to do something that was no longer right for me.

I have been very fortunate to have had a wonderful career, something I just happened upon and it evolved into what I would do for the next 20 years.  I have been toying with the idea of retirement and recently moved to Florida to explore the possibilities and really fell in love with it. 

Enjoying those peaceful mornings having coffee on my lanai, watching the gorgeous sunsets or walking to the farmer's market in town have been more than enough to keep me occupied these past few months.  I often wondered when did I have time for a full-time job? 

I'm still not sure what my motivation was but when I was offered a new contract assignment I accepted the job.  Not only did I have to go back to work, but I had to fly 2,000 miles away to do it.  Living in hotels, spending endless hours at airports and on crowded planes is no way to live. 

I suppose I thought that if I was happy where I was living and just worked on a short-term basis I would be ok until I fully retired - I was wrong.  In a very short amount of time it became clear to me that I could no longer do this.  I was not eating or sleeping properly and my health was already beginning to suffer. 

What I've learned from this experience is that you can not go back.  As your life changes and grows you must keep moving forward.  Always on to the next thing, expanding and increasing in order to be who you are meant to become.

Necessary Losses

In “Necessary Losses” Judith Viorst writes about what we must give up in order to grow.
Learning to accept losing someone you care about is very difficult but it is the only way to move forward in your life.

As painful as it may be the bigger the loss the better the growth.

Expansion

The nature of life is one of expansion. Everything grows and changes whether we like it or not. We can resist and inhibit the growth within us or embrace it and look forward to all the new opportunities it brings.

As much as I enjoy the changing of the seasons in nature I love the experience of it in my life. With each passing year I become more engaged and connected to the beauty of the ever changing cycles of life. I always appreciate that because of those changes and expansion it is a life worth living!