I wanted to be a graphic designer.
I found myself at a very young age loving to draw. I was quite creative.
From drawing and painting the walls in my closet to finding myself sketching costumes and set designs for our high school productions.
I was perfectly happy being in the background. I didn’t want to be in the spotlight where people would notice me. This was a safe place for me. It was a place to be creative and shine with my talents.
When it was time to pick schools and more on what I wanted, I had an amazing portfolio, but not the confidence or support to help me to understand what the next steps were supposed to be. So I took the most comfortable step and went to community college and then on to business school.
We hide in the background instead of being front and center to design the life we want. I did go off and had a successful career, but living in circumstances pulled me off course – on many occasions.
If we dig deep into why you may want to do something really bad but take a different path, what would you find?
My parents were hard workers. They worked because it was something that needed to be done. I don’t think I ever asked them why they did what they did, but it seems that it was just to live. Not to thrive.
The word thrive comes up for me a lot lately. In my own thoughts and definitely in the conversations I have with women. It surfaces for them at ages 40 to 70+. These women are clients, members of my community, friends, networking partners, board members…it truly doesn’t matter who they are, the common ground is life is ever moving. If we don’t embrace the movement, we can get swept up in despair, overwhelm, feeling of being lost, undervalued, or even irrelevant.
Life can get made up of things that we need to get done – not things that we need to experience to thrive. If you take a step back and look around, what is being done to feel joy?
Now I am not saying to drop everything so that you can just thrive on what you need, but I am encouraging you to spend some time evaluating what season you are in right now; embrace it.
Thriving in the season of life you are in is so important. It doesn’t mean big changes need to take place. It may mean just looking at something differently. Or understanding that “whatever” is not forever.
As I approached 55 it was more apparent to me that there are things that need my direct attention and things that may not need as much. The bottom line for creating a season you love is understanding how you want to feel and building from there. I am sure most of us don’t want to feel overwhelmed, tired, hectic, emotional, etc.
2 Timothy 1:7: For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
What self-control, love, peace, or joy do you want to create in this season?
With much appreciation,
Pam ❤️
Life Coach | Strategic Thinking Partner
Helping design your life to pause and discover how to thrive!
P.S. Send me a note of the season you are in right now and how you are thriving.
