Reflect on Your Story
January 3, 2024
Stepping Off the Merry-Go-Round
January 17, 2024
Your future contains so much potential. Where will you go from here? This is the third of three blogs. The first was about reviewing your past year, looking for what you want more, or less of in your life. The second was about your current situation. What you need and where you are restless or curious. This one is about your future. Consider your options from here, taking time to make decisions about possibilities you want to explore.
This is not about New Year’s resolutions. So many of those are about making yourself smaller: no more clutter, smaller waistline, or less wasted time. Changing or improving yourself so that you are good enough. You are worthy as you are. Exploring possibilities allows you to consider this year and beyond. What would you like to wake up to 5 years from today? Look again at your needs that are not fulfilled. Consider your curious or restless mind. Decide for yourself what paths you want to journey down.
Rather than change yourself – use your skills and strengths to change the circumstances around you. Reach out to increase your potential, your options. Here are some places to start:
Meet Others
In planning for your future, consider your traveling partners. Resilience is most solidly found in good company. Meet others heading in the same direction. In some cases, this is literal: If you want to get outdoors more, join a nearby hiking group, and set off down a trail. Finding others headed your way allows you to learn from their journey. You will find yourself teaching them what you know, allowing yourself to see your wisdom through others’ eyes. You will know you are in good company when laughter mixes with deep listening, compassion, respect, and shared snacks. You will go farther with the support, encouragement, and example of good traveling companions.
Experiment
Give it a try. Is there a need or curiosity that you want to satisfy, but don’t know how? Try something new. Try an idea or activity you haven’t done, or visit a place you’ve never been before. Every try is an experiment. If it doesn’t work out, you have at least learned something about yourself, someone else, or a new area. As a human you are a creature of habit, saving you the work of deciding what to do every day. Expanding your possibilities requires you to deliberately make a different choice. You have 51 more weeks this year to try out new ideas, foods, activities, and support. They won’t all work. A few will be amazingly wonderful!
Learn
Resources for learning are endless. Libraries, books, classes, friends who know what you don’t. It helps to remember that learning is hard. It takes time. To learn well you are generally required to unlearn something else. This requires effort, repetition, and/or awkwardness until the new skill or knowledge is learned and becomes second nature. Taking time to practice results in mastery. The ability to do something without great mental or physical effort. All those resilience skills you have learned during hard times become tools for moving you toward thriving.
Reviewing your past and taking stock of your present allows you to consider what you want in your future. Rather than “fix yourself”, find ways to meet your own needs. Reach out to friends – new and old, give some things a try, and find the resources that support your learning. There are a lot of possibilities to be explored. May you find those that look most promising for you.
Peace,
Laura A. Gaines
To learn more, explore learnmodelteach.com for tools, videos, and coaching opportunities.
