How did I get here?

It happens to all of us sooner or later. We find ourselves suddenly frozen in place. Looking around at the elements of our lives and asking the question “How did I get here?” Perhaps your childhood career plans are off track. Maybe you career is on the fast track; but you feel like you’re under the tires; with absolutely no idea who is behind the wheel anymore. I have a friend who just found herself without any children needing her constant attention for the first time in 20 years.

All life is change. All is living transition. Getting lost in the shuffle however seems (pardon the pun) a like a rather raw deal. I have been there myself. A health crisis that was a long time in coming had knocked all my well laid plans into a sea of scattered Jenga tiles all around me. I’ll admit that I wasn’t prepared for the blow my ego took when I could no longer rely on having an answer to the dreaded question “And what do you do?” I hated hearing that question so much that I now make an effort not to ask anyone that very question anymore. I’ve found a simple “Tell me a bit about yourself.” Or “How do you know so-and-so?” illicit a much more interesting question anyhow. But I digress.

So, there I was gradually recovering my health and learning a new sense of self. I was no longer able to be the person who always doing, doing, doing. I wasn’t entirely sure that I still wanted to be person either. I was forced to learn a new way of being. And to my surprise. Being Human Ain’t Easy! I had to get to know myself again. Who I was now? Who I was at my core?

I suspect this may sound familiar. You look at the person in the mirror and the face reflected back at you isn’t quite a stranger’s & isn’t quite yours. And just your hand (suddenly acting of its own accord) reaches out to tap the mirror. Just in case, that’s where the fault lies. Then the face in the mirror opens its mouth and inquires “Who are you & How did you get in my Mirror?”

Not exactly a comfortable question. Not an easy question to answer, either. But if the thought of answering those questions set you to shifting a bit tensely in your chair then that may in fact be a clue that these are exactly the questions you should be asking yourself. I know because I have done the work myself. It is no walk in the park, but it is worth it.

Because True Talk, when you find yourself in petrified in place and unable to decide what to do with yourself or life next, its time for the right questions. I know that this sounds counterintuitive. This is supposed to be the part where I tell you all the answers and send you off in the sunset to live your life never to worry about anything ever again. So…I don’t do that. I will tell this. I suspect that you’ve done hard things before. Even if you needed some help along way. So, there’s no reason you can’t answer these hard questions too. After all, were you born a human doing or were you born a human being? Just, a hunch.

Thrive Laterally, Live Wyldy & Stay Quirktastik for Lyfe