You are free to change, you do not have to remain the same.
I am not the same person I was pre-pandemic, chances are you aren’t either. These past few years have been full of massive change, changes that brought deep heartbreak alongside profound growth.
Days and weeks and months spend holding on to the parts of our lives that matter most only to realize the bigger lesson was in letting go, letting go of expectations and ideas and dreams that we once carried.
I will be the first to admit that my life looks nothing like I thought it would, things have changed inside of me and all around me. I have lost little (and big) parts of myself, but with a little bit of time and a lot of self reflection I have come to accept and in many cases appreciate these changes both big and small.
So much of what I wanted and thought I needed pre-pandemic feels out of alignment with who I am today. I am beginning to see the chaos and the uncertainty as a gift, as an invitation to embrace the complexities of life and redefine whatever it is that matters most to you NOW - not yesterday, not tomorrow, not next week or next year, but NOW.
I am learning to detach from what used to be and release the need to know what might be coming next, therefore learning to appreciate what actually is. As it turns out, when I let go of everything I thought I needed, I began to appreciate everything I already had. I believe we are all in the process of shedding our past selves, learning to appreciate the in-between, while allowing space for our future selves to fully form.
I closed my brick and mortar just over a year ago and while letting go didn’t happen overnight, I truly believe that closing my dream was the best decision I have made since the pandemic hit. Holding on to that beautiful space and idea cost me far more than it awarded me and the lessons I have learned in letting go have been profound.
I never imagined this would be my path to walk, but showing up in the mess of things has awarded me a strength I didn’t know existed and sharing my story, while not always easy, has become one of the few things I can offer to other women who might be navigating the same. These few years may have shattered my dreams, but it helped me to see that strength and pain often coexist and confirmed that growth rarely comes from comfort zones.
There is not a person who will come out of this pandemic unscathed, not a single business that will remain unchanged, not a single mother who hasn’t been tasked with impossible circumstances and showed up just the same. I believe it is our stories that will connect us, that will soften the edges, that will help us feel less alone.
Change is hard, but so is staying the same. Who you are tomorrow is a reflection of the choices you make today.
Questions to ask yourself:
How have you changed since the pandemic hit?!
What are you holding on to that you can let go of?!
What changes do you need to make?!