The Road TO is THROUGH

Have you ever had a moment when you’re forced to slow down and stop?

Unfortunately, I typically end up waiting for something to happen before I admit a slow-down is necessary in life.

I was injured a short while back and found myself in this position.

If you read regularly, you know I love soccer and still play to this day. I love to run. I workout often. It’s how I keep my mental health in good order.

I suppose there may even be some irony in an injury coming through something I love!? Doesn’t pain often find its way to hit straight at the heart?? Well, that's exactly what happened to me.

I was avoiding a slow-down in my own life.? I had so much to do with a changing business landscape, a baby, new city, and all the rest.? I was trying to figure it all out at once.? I had to keep going.

And going. And going. And going.

Then I was forced to stop.

I ended up with a pulled muscle in my groin and it completely slowed me down.? I had no other choice than to be hyper-aware of how I was moving, the amount of energy it took with each step to simply not feel pain run square down my leg.

Like most things in life there are lessons to be gleaned from the experience, especially when it comes to injury, loss, and failure.

We try, typically, to avoid all of them.

Yet, we know we cannot outrun any of them.? It happens to all of us.

As a matter of fact, we tend to speed up, push harder, believing all along it’s going to keep us from having to stop in life.? We become invincible.

We think.

There is tremendous value in slowing down, breathing in the moment, and living in the now.

Most of us have tremendous difficulty living in this space, myself included.

I have to anticipate future goals and worry, I at times dwell in the past, thinking about what could have been, when life only happens now, in this moment.

Think about all the thought and energy it took for me to take a step after injury.? I had to be aware as to not to injure myself any further.

You can follow the same path when it comes to designing your life.? When you have an idea as to where you’re going, you become intentional about the choices you make and the road as to where you’re going begins to reveal itself.

Now I’m not saying you’re going to avoid failure and injury.? It’s just not realistic for any of us.? Again, the more you try, the greater chance you fail.

Failure, though, like injury, does force you to stop and reflect on how you got where you are and ask questions as to how to do it better the next time.

What does slowing down and stopping do for you and why is it important?

Your head has a tendency to run much more quickly than your heart.? You begin to calibrate simply from the place of ego, losing sight of the larger purpose and meaning to life and what it is you’re trying to accomplish.? The brain and ego will do everything to avoid pain and injury.? Everything.? It doesn’t want you to stop, similar to a computer.? It doesn’t like to be told what to do and wants to keep you on autopilot.? It knows all your patterns to protect you because it’s your brain which designed each and every one of them.

Now you’re starting to understand why your head doesn’t want you to stop?!? It keeps control this way!

There’s more to you, though, much more, and much will be lost when you don’t slow down.

Purpose and mission come from a place much deeper within you.? It comes from your heart.

Most fail when they separate from their purpose, from their heart.

Being intentional about meditation or breathing exercises or whatever it is that slows you down in life can be and is a game-changer.

No, life may not happen as quickly as you’d sometimes like.? However, it will keep you grounded and connected to your own larger purpose.

It is a part of my daily, morning routine, to slow myself down and become aware of what’s transpiring within me.? What are my thoughts I can let go of?? What am I feeling in various parts of my body?? What is it my heart is trying to convey to me at this moment?? I write and journal about the experience to begin to decipher my own patterns and thinking as best as I can so when I meet with my own coaches and guides, I can bring them to where it is I’m avoiding pain and failure.? It’s often exactly where I need to go!

Recognizing these things about myself and for you as well are vital in becoming the man and woman you want to be.? Guides and coaches, just as important to help us navigate the “darkened forest” of our own lives and assist us in seeing what we ourselves cannot.

If you’re at a place in life where you’re feeling stuck and keep getting in your own way, coaching is the way to go.? You can choose from a variety of different plans based on your own circumstances and what it is you’re trying to accomplish these days.

Before you incur your own injury, before you need to stop - you can reorder your life, develop better practices, and create a new lifestyle. You are in your own way - stubborn, resilient, and obstructing yourself.?

If you need help getting out of your own way, call me. There are coaching slots opening this month.