Getting Ahead by Gaining a Fresh Perspective

This week it took a close friend to spell out to me what she’d heard from me several times before I took any notice. I’m always saying “act on inspiration” in order to follow the yellow brick road and yet I was somehow oblivious to my own inspiration. Like most I am busy being busy much of the time, but given that I make space for regular meditation and contemplation you might think I’d have my own “ah ha” moment.

Over the last few years I’ve had people of all ages from all walks of life contact me looking for my perspective on their situation after they have read something that resonated in one of my articles. It’s hard to express the inspiration it ignites, the ease with which a response flows and the satisfaction in simply being able to be of some help.

Yet I had somehow not picked up on this thread of inspiration and acted on it, it took my friend to connect the dots for me.

We don’t get to meet up as often as we’d like, my friend and I, so when we do get together it’s a bit like speed dating because we are trying to get across all the most important bits in the short time we have. So we usually go from the hilarities of being school mums (the ‘you have to laugh or you’d cry’ stuff) to the meaning of life in a nanosecond.

The nature of this particular friendship is one where we hold a space for the other in the big picture stuff. We are each on a journey, neither quite knowing the destination, yet both fervently knowing that where we had been was not where we wanted to be.

I have read and seen enough of my friend’s creative talents to fully hold a vision in which she’s a famous novelist buying me cocktails in the Bahamas as we ‘speed date’ catch up at some point in the future.  She laughs at this, which is not a bad thing as we can’t take ourselves too seriously after all. Plus buying into something that far from where you are now can really put the brakes on any baby steps towards it if it feels too big a stretch.

When I was sharing my latest ‘cup-filling’ moment, responding to a reader about a difficult situation she’s dealing with and recommending some resources that might help, my friend pointed out “you realise your whole energy changed as you were talking about that, your face just lit up”.

Being my friend, and holding the big picture for me, she didn’t stop there. “That is at least the fourth or fifth time you’ve told me about scenarios like that that you really enjoy, why don’t you put yourself out there to invite more?”

At first I meekly retorted that I do invite people to get in touch at the end of each article. She called me out on that “Mmm” she said “but when I read the bit at the end of your articles I wouldn’t take that to mean you’d be happy to help me with my problems”.

Don’t you just love those moments when someone reflects something back to you and you think “ah ha, you’re right”? I also love the people brave enough to do it, it takes courage to call others out. It is said that life is a mirror, but often we are so stuck in the details of our own lives it does take another person to give us a fresh perspective on what’s going on. It’s a classic ‘can’t see the woods for the trees’.

As we were talking I realised that, since I’d initially put up the website and added the blurb at the end of my articles, a lot has changed in my life. I’ve been sifting through different ideas, trying on different hats to see what fits and what doesn’t fit, I am getting clearer about what those things are and who I am so reflecting that outwards can only help draw more of the things that really float my boat.

Over the last few years I’ve shifted away from the idea of having to launch into another career, people have said “what about coaching? consultancy? teaching? writing?” among others. None of it called me, and I don’t want a label on what I’m doing because I like it being fluid: the river is still running, finding its way.

I don’t want to solve others’ problems; instead I enjoy helping them find the place within themselves where they can uncover the inspiration to move towards a solution. I don’t want formal clients at this point in my life; I simply like helping others for the joy of helping. I don’t want it to become an obligation; I want it to thrive as an informal sharing of a different viewpoint.

As I was talking with my friend she observed “you’re really clear about what you do and don’t want, so put it out there”.  So, of course, here I am at the beginnings of “putting it out there”.

These blogs simply reflect my own need to allow wisdom greater than mine to flow so I can continuously learn and grow, and I share them in case they help others. And when those who read them get in touch and share how what has been written has resonated with something going on in their own life, that ignites more inspiration within me and I thoroughly enjoy sharing the perspective that arises in return.

So I’m taking my cue and making myself available. Whether there is something I can help with, or whether you have a great friend like mine, or another person in your life who ‘gets you’, we all need a bit of help sometimes to gain a fresh perspective on what is happening in our lives.

That perspective can give you renewed energy and hope, at least enough to take a baby step in the right direction, and that is what will lead you further along the journey of your best life.

If what you read here resonates and you’d like a fresh perspective on your own situation, feel free to contact me. There’s no charge or strings attached, I really enjoy helping where I can, click here for further information.