Vote for your peace
This picture was taken on the morning of November 4th, 2016 from my LIC apartment. I spent Election night in a local bar with a friend — which feels like a lifetime ago!
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I would lose my 97 year old grandfather later in the month. I would lose my mother suddenly in December. This picture represents peace and quiet for me. I would soon be forever changed.
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The gift in loss is that it called me to action. “Life is too short” became my internal mantra. I became fearless of change. I changed cities, careers, ran 2 half-marathons, bought a home, got married, traveled the world, etc. It was invigorating. I had been living on auto-pilot for a long time.
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However, sometimes I would wonder if I was running away from something or running towards something. At times, it was a combination. Running towards love, newness, excitement. Running away from sadness, despair, family dynamics changing. In my calm moments, I knew that I was always “running towards a better version of myself.” That helped me keep going, learning and doing.
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Then, three years & eight months later, the world stopped turning as we knew it. All of a sudden, I realized that I had not truly processed all of this change. They say that the top 5 stressors in life are: death, divorce, moving, major illness/injury and job loss. I had experienced 4 of 5 since 2014.
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My auto-pilot of ‘no change’ turned into auto-pilot of ‘all-change.’ I realized that there was a pattern here. My pattern is that I was living life in an ‘all or nothing’ state. (living out-of-a-bag or 100% couch time, hustling for work or quitting my job, training for a half marathon or not exercising at all..the list goes on)
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It took a global pandemic to teach me balance. It was forced upon me & I am forever grateful.
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For the first time in 4 years, I started feeling peace again last month. My body and mind have quieted down. I am enjoying a simpler life. I have learned through coaching (and being coached) that it’s in the quieting of our minds, bodies and lives where true peace can happen.
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So, I encourage you on this Election Day to slow it down, take notice of your patterns & #vote on your own peace - whatever that is.✌🏻
