Life is a journey that provides various experiences, highs & lows, opportunities & challenges, stagnation & change. Things happen. However the question is not whether we can or can’t, it is “how to”.
Each of us has our strengths, talents, dreams, potential and challenges. We have situations, limitations, idiosyncrasies that we would like to overcome. We need to understand our many facets and the various factors that contribute to who we are. Understanding ourselves is the starting point for determining the “how to” for our next steps in life, whatever the goal or outcome that is desired. We may not be able to do whatever the way we have seen it done, but we can figure out a way they we can do it.
With my background in rehabilitation counseling and being a multi-talent, I facilitate others in developing and experiencing their potential with “disabilities” or with characteristics of a high intellect and creativity. It is a process of understanding, overcoming, developing, expressing and connecting. The understanding comes from identifying, recognizing and acknowledging all the facets that contribute to who we are and what our individual norm is. No one is normal – meaning fitting the cookie cutter average which defines the statistics for what we are to be in whatever context. The first step is to clarify our uniqueness and our expression of that uniqueness. Decide what works and what doesn’t work with our desired engagement in life. What works, continue to develop. What doesn’t work, figure out the strategy for managing that dynamic so it becomes an asset versus a liability. Knowing our whys (values, what is important to us) guides and motivates us towards our desired expression or experience (our dream, goal). To engage fully we need to connect with our self, others like us, others in general (people we interact with day in and day out), and with our big picture.
Living life fully is experiencing all the emotions to their extremes, flowing through the experience, and not getting stuck. Understanding our self includes knowing our center so that we can return to center for balance and rejuvenation. Emotional exhaustion requires our attention just like physical exhaustion. Self-care is the grease that keeps the wheel of life moving more smoothly. Engaging in life fully means the full ride of the roller coaster with its ups, downs, and plateaus. The “how to” is with awareness, understanding and choosing in the moments from our center with the guidance of what is important to us in life (our values, our purpose, our dreams, our connections).
The question is not whether we can or can’t, but how to.
