Soar

Original version written in March 2017, updated today.

What is rising from your ashes? Have you been hit with a series of unfortunate and unimaginable circumstances that have you reeling? Have you been allowed to seek employment, relationship, fulfillment elsewhere? Has your world exploded? Did a relationship or project get consumed by flames? Has any certainty that you still imagined become rubble that oozed into your life?

Take time, a few days or a couple of weeks, recognize the reality, accept the finality, do some bargaining with yourself, feel hurt and angry, and then come out the other side. The measure isn’t in what you lost but in what you learned and what you are doing to embrace and use your circumstances?

We all suffer tragedies and trauma, and when we meditate in it and then use the experience to flourish and bloom into something we never imagined.

If a long or short relationship has ended, embrace being single. Love yourself and the chance you now have to make good decisions for yourself. Start ticking off the list of things you wanted to do, but the relationship is prohibited. Spend time in the world in awkward situations. Go to places that you wouldn’t usually consider. Talk to people who aren’t in your ‘loop.’ Learn something new every day. (curious.com has a comprehensive menu of possibilities)

If you have been underemployed or unemployed for a while, take advantage of the time and develop new skills, volunteer with organizations, visit family and spend time outside enjoying the fresh air. Look for new ways to be seen and known. If you have been a geologist for years but are interested in food, take a class, visit a foodie event, reach out to the chef you most admire. Whether you are 30, 40, or 60, beginning anew isn’t a failure, it is courage. We will all start and end numerous careers throughout our lives, and many of us will continue to add value in some employment arrangement well past what was once considered retirement age.

For every pyre, there is a phoenix waiting to arise. As long as we don’t douse the embers with disappointment and defeat, there is a new you are waiting to be born. When the egg hatches, fly as high as possible and be okay if/when the next challenge settles you back on the ground with a thud. Starting over is an opportunity and a testament to your courage.

B