The other day I shared a quote from Seth Godin that someone else had posted on their Facebook page. Here’s what it said:
“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”
This might be a time of year when you’re thinking something like that. Maybe you’ve had a few days or even a couple of weeks off for the holidays. January is days away and with that comes a mix of resolutions, fresh starts, back-t0-work/school blues and maybe even looking at a calendar to see when your next opportunity is for some kind of escape from the parts of your life that feel like a grind.
When I posted that quote, one of my Facebook friends who is a woman I taught years ago when she was in high school, posted this question in the comments: “How does one do that?”
And this was my reply:
Great question. I think it starts with reframing the life that one wants to “escape” from and deciding what’s to love or even like about it, because you created it.
And with your awareness of what’s good or what works in your life, ask yourself why you love it or are grateful for it. What’s the feeling behind it?
If, for example, you can look at your career and see that you have a lot of flexibility with your job even though it may not be the job of your dreams — start there with that feeling of freedom. From there, you can invite in much more of what you desire in life versus coming from a “this sucks and I’m trapped” place.
I’ve done and continue to do this work on myself and I’ve worked this way with people whom others would judge to have “nothing” and those whom people would say have “everything” and I’ve found that true contentment and happiness can be found by seeing what’s right in front of you and loving yourself enough to dream bigger — whatever that looks like for you. It’s not frou-frou, woo woo stuff (okay – maybe a liiiitttle bit) — it’s really soulful work.”
This week, open yourself up to some soulful work where you can look back on 2013 to see what you can celebrate and release. Then welcome 2014 into your life by considering how you want to create a life you fully embrace versus want to escape from.
My friend on Facebook thanked me for my response and she also said that she didn’t see this kind of work on oneself as simple, magical thinking, “woo” stuff. Her opinion was that if it was “easy” work, more of us would be diving into what we really, truly want our lives and creating it versus thinking we have to struggle for it or hoping it will arrive for us in the form of an ideal circumstance, person, job or load of cash.
I think she’s onto something, and I also think that building the life you want can’t be categorized as “easy” or “difficult.” I think it’s a process and that you invite yourself into that process on purpose every day of your life. All of the pieces of the process can lead to who, what and where you want to be in this life. Your highest attention is required. Your highest intention should be invoked.
Here’s something I created for you to help you get going in that direction for the coming year:
I would love for you to follow up with me (laura@laura-wagner.com) and share what you found out for yourself when you completed this worksheet.
And for those looking for more intensive work around creating a life you’re in love with and proud of (or growing the awesome life you already have in a bigger way), I have some ways for you to do that in 2014 that I will be rolling out the first week of January.
There are in-person and online opportunities for groups; so there’s something for women who live in my community and for those women who are in my online community. I’ll also be introducing some individual coaching packages with “Happy New Year!” pricing.
If you’re interested in learning more about these as I announce them and you don’t yet subscribe to my site, then you should make that happen by signing up at the top of the page (you get something beautiful I created for you for free when you sign up, too).
Happy New Year — it’s going to be amazing!
