What if that awful thing that happened in your life, was actually a springboard for great things?
I was chronically ill for three years (read more about that here). It was the hardest time of my life. And yet from it great things have grown. It was only through being ill, being forced to stop and reflect, that I discovered the world I now live in: nervous system regulation, Mind Body Connection, NLP, Clinical Hypnotherapy, Coaching and so much more.
It took a change in perspective for me to see my experience as a positive; as a springboard to the next chapter. Yes it was awful, painful, depressing, insert any negative adjective. Yes I mourned the loss of time and opportunity. No, I wasn’t always positive (though interestingly I fervently believed throughout that time that I would and could get better – and I did – as I talked about in my previous blog post, our beliefs matter).
To move on, to move forwards, I had to find some light, some benefit, some positive amongst the bleakness. At the time, that light, that hope initially came as tiny glimmers. I connected with a community of people online, I was able to spend time with my parents that I wouldn’t have had without being ill. I learnt new skills – nutrition, yoga, meditation, NLP – and ultimately took on a new mindset. The latter being key in enabling the springboard to come life.
It may sound like a cliché but you can feel accepting of, or even grateful for, a challenging experience, if you can see and feel good coming from it. It can be a welcome opportunity for a new chapter. As such, a post traumatic growth mindset can be a powerful tool and an empowering perspective to embody.
Some experiences stop us in our tracks: my illness being one example, the death of a loved one, loss of a job, a trauma, injury or relationship breakdown being others. These all have the potential to make or break us; or to do both at different points perhaps. However, it’s not just these seismic, life halting, life altering periods that can serve as springboards. This perspective can be applied to any obstacle, any challenge, however seemingly big or small, that may cross your path from time to time.
All of my clients use their challenges as a springboard to some extent. By choosing to work with me, they are choosing to overcome an obstacle, that until now has kept them stuck. They are sending a powerful message to their minds: whatever this issue is, I want to change it. I want to transform it into something that will serve me; that will be useful, powerful and ultimately enable me to live a life I love. In a nutshell, they are choosing to use an obstacle as a springboard to greater things.
So what if, the next time something hard happens in your life, you are able to hang on to the glimmer of light, that in some way, that seemingly impossible situation, could be your inner strength? Perhaps not immediately, but somewhere down the line (perhaps sooner than you think), when the time is right, that challenge in your life, could become your force for good, your springboard to a new, bigger, brighter chapter?
Because as the song goes, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger (this has been my ringtone ever since I was ill a decade ago)!
If you would love some support in building your own springboard, then please get in touch to work with me.
19th February 2024