Unveiling The Right Path: A Journey Through the Shadows

Below is a photo of me at 16.

I'm frequently asked why I choose to share my stories - stories that many of us try to keep secret as we struggle to fit in, to wear our daily mask that everything is okay.

The stories that live in the dark corners of our past. The stories that contain mistakes, mis-steps, wrong turns and poor decisions. The stories that we leave untold.

I shine the light on my stories as an example to hold up that we are never alone. That no matter what we have done, what has been done to us or the mistakes that we believe we have made. Somewhere there is someone who has take that path before us.

My belief about the right path to success was once simple: graduate high school, secure a job with a pension, remain in it for 40 years, get married, have two children, retire, travel, and, inevitably die.

But I fell of the ‘right path’. I became a teenage mom, dropped out of high school, and was married before I was even old enough to vote.

At just 16 I sentenced myself to a life without success. I created a prison without bars caged only by the false belief that because I had fallen off the ‘right path’ I would never be successful.

So, let me ask you: What is your belief about the ‘right path’? What criteria must you fulfill to confidently say, "YES, I've made it"?

The right path is a measuring stick we use to judge ourselves and you know you’re doing this when you can hear yourself saying…. shouldn’t I?

Shouldn’t I be married by now, be farther ahead in my career, have children or any other judgement you impose on yourself.

These judgements are the echoes of measuring ourselves against our belief of the right path.

Whether you feel you've fallen from the right path or stick to it even in the face of unhappiness, the impact on your life remains the same.

It changes the actions you are willing to take.

It keeps you dreaming small, living small and settling for less than you're worth!

I look back on that 16-year-old girl and admire her courage to never give up!

And I now know there is not just one ‘right path’ to success and that every ‘mistake’ was actually a gift that arrived in bad wrapping paper.

What do you think? Hit reply and share your belief about the ‘right path’.

I believe in YOU!

Tammy