Judy Prokopiak, RN, CWHC, Lifestyle Coaching
12/29/17
I know it's winter here in Florida, but I love going to the beach on a sunny day when there is just enough waves for a boogie board or to leap over them as they crest just at the shoreline. Even as a fifty-something woman, it feels so freeing and child-like to jump in the waves or dive under. And, yes, sometimes we get pumelled by them if we aren’t paying attention.
If we aren’t paying attention, we can also end up down the beach, drifting far away from our umbrella, beach chairs and icy cold drink. You know that moment when you look up onto the sand for your purple umbrella and you see that you have “drifted’ away. What do we do? We start “shifting’ and making our way back toward our sweet spot on the beach.
The same is true in life. If we are not paying attention, we end up drifting. Sometimes we drift a little and catch ourselves, we course correct. Like when we gain a few pounds from a little too much over the holidays, but get back on track and on the scale maybe. Perhaps we stepped out of a job or relationship quickly when we saw that it wasn’t right for us.
However, there are other times we wake up and think, “how the heck did I end up here in my life.” We let ourselves drift so far from where we wanted to be, thought we should be, or could be. We can’t even see the umbrella anymore! Now we have 40, 50 or more pounds to lose or we have a job we’ve done for 20 years and just don’t love it anymore but feel stuck.
This happened to me, I spent so many years looking for my purpose, trying to find peace ( by the way, it’s an inside job… it’s not out there) and being “busy” taking care of people, that I never stopped or felt worthy to set goals or dream dreams. I don’t think that God wants us to just be at the mercy of the waves being pulled under or drifting along, he wants us to live an inspired (in spirit) life.
You are a good woman, doing good work in the world, taking good care of people, but It’s time to wake up. Wake up and dream a new dream. Wake up and decide who you want to be, what you want to do and how you want to serve in the world. It’s time to start “shifting” and stop drifting.
I took action and started making shifts in my health, learning about foods that heal and changed my life. I shifted my negative and dis-empowering stories of shame and unworthiness. I shifted my relationships by not trying to control and fix everyone and everything.
As we head into 2018, maybe you need to create a big shift in your life ( move, change jobs, etc) or maybe just a few little shifts (eat a salad every day, stop binge watching Netflix). Either way, decide what you would love ( God has put that in your heart) more of in your life, and start taking action towards that. There is no need to drift through life. The waves of life will certainly crash over you from time to time, but when you are focused on that “umbrella” of what you want and why, you won’t be held under for long and you won't drift away from your true authentic self again.