Mindset Change and Dreams

It’s been almost a year since I wrote a blog. I can’t say it has been the best or the worst year. I’ve grown and regressed and grown again. I’ve learned new things and also realized I know nothing. Ever have those experiences? The ones where you are so sure of yourself. You know who you are and what you believe….and then life comes along and challenges you. And sometimes you come out stronger. And other times you come out broken. Life is not always nice. But it’s not always cruel either. I understand why people say mindset is everything. My worst times have been made barrable because someone shifted how I saw things. Sometimes we just need perspective that what we are experiencing is a moment. It may be your worst moment, but it is still just a moment. It is temporary. It is just as temporary as the good moments.

How absolutely strange it can be to realize that nothing stays the same. Everything changes. Always. So the good can become bad and the bad can become good. If you just wait long enough. I struggle sometimes with patience when I am somewhere I don’t want to be anymore. I have seen this pattern in jobs that I have taken for money purposes or ones I have stayed at longer then I should. I start to become frustrated because I want something else or I know where I could be, but I am stuck here. That’s probably the worst feeling someone can have. Being stuck. No matter what your circumstances are, if you don’t feel like you have the ability to change them, you will start to break down. I have had this happen to me multiple times and I have seen it in my clients so many times.

But just exploring options and being a little creative can really change that. I experienced that when I dreamed up Blossoming Rose Therapy. Also when I dreamed up a future project of a café that offers so many more options for people. I felt so stuck and hopeless. I was burnt out and had no real direction. I was googling jobs I could start over with. I just couldn’t stand where I was, what I was doing and who I had become. And then I stumbled on a coaching program that felt like a shift for me. I moved back home and attended the program. Now I won’t say it was like some miracle and my life was suddenly amazing. I still had all of the issues I had before. But not I had this space with super supportive and motivated people where I was encouraged to dream. I was told to dream as big as I could. I won’t lie. I struggled with that. I had become so jaded and practical that I couldn’t even write down a future because it didn’t feel real. I would start to write and then stop myself. Who was I kidding? I could never do these things! I could never own and operate a business. I don’t even know people who have their own businesses! How could I even dream of that?

I would come back to these meetings I had with a small group of prospective coaches and we would start brainstorming. And through their continued encouragement and love, I was able to finally give myself the gift of dreaming. And I did. I dreamed so big I laughed about it. I dreamed so big and so hard that I was terrified to share it. Not because I thought someone would take it, but because it felt so personal. It was mine. It felt like a big part of me was in it. And if someone heard or looked at my dream and said it was stupid…I would just shatter! But again I returned to my coaching group and was encouraged to dream and talk about my dream and show myself. And I did. And guess what happened….I was shown love, acceptance and encouragement! I gained so much that day but one of the best lessons was this – surround yourself with people who want you to succeed. Surround yourself with the people who will tell you when you are wrong, encourage you when you need it, love you when you can’t love yourself and show you that you mean more to the world then you ever thought possible.

I am not sure that my group of coaches know how much they gave me that day. Maybe they understood that I needed encouragement and gentle love. Maybe they saw themselves in me. One thing I do know is I would have never had the courage to build anything outside of my safe little 9-5 box if they didn’t enter my life the way that they did. I will love them forever for giving me that gift. They are the reason Blossoming Rose Therapy is here. They are the reason I will go on to own a café that brings communities together in a way that will offer healing to the masses. So to them I will eternally be grateful!

The moral of the story: surround yourself with people who see things in you that you sometimes don’t even see in yourself. Allow yourself to dream as big and as bold as you can. Face your fears as often as you can. Allow yourself to feel insecure, but don’t allow that to stop you. Life may be serious, but don’t forget to laugh. It’s not all as serious as we think it is. You are not the center of the universe so don’t worry about how others see you. Keep moving forward and the right people will come along. Your dreams are yours for a reason. Pursue them with all your might even when others don’t understand them.

Part of what I hope to offer the world is what these coaches gave to me. A mindset shift and the space to explore who I want to be in life. I wish that for everyone no matter where you are in life. Speaking of this, it is time for me to go take care of business as a therapist. I hope you find your purpose in life and follow a dream that feels so big, you question your sanity. Till next time, enjoy life!