Feeling A Stuckness

“Someday everything will make perfect sense.  So, for now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, and keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason.” 

            My goal for this pandemic was to get up every Monday and write up a blog post.  This week I couldn’t do it.  No matter what I did, I felt the word “stuck”.  I don’t like to even use that word because what I realize is that you are not really stuck but refusing to budge.  There is something that you are supposed to be doing and you refuse to see any way to do it.  This was me and to some extent, it still feels that way. I’m feeling on edge. I’m feeling like I can’t do anything right now due to current circumstances. I’m at Week #8, I think, and it’s getting real.  Even though our governor said things will start re-opening, I’m feeling like this will go on for a long time.

            It is not something going on but more that life has completely changed in a short, short time.  I go out and see people worrying about whether people are wearing masks or not.  I see that life at Shake Shack (our treat for today) has morphed into people sitting in their hot cars and the masked workers bringing bags to the cars.  It’s sad for me and that is where I have the opportunity to shift my thinking and my reality.  This is what life will look like for, probably the rest of the year.  If I don’t shift my thoughts, it’s going to be a long 2020.

            I remember waking up on New Year’s Day thinking that 2020 was going to be an amazing year for many reasons. Little did I know that it would be a different year from any that I have ever experienced in my life.  I was working full-time for the first time in a long time due to some life circumstances.  I got super sick in February (thinking now I had the “rona”), I was forced to quit my job due to the illness and then the wave hit.  I went from a high to a low.  We all did.  No one knew what was coming or how to prepare for it.  It’s how we come out the other side of this that will determine our future.

            Each day I get up and gauge how my day is going to go.  What key I was missing is that I have the power to make how my day goes.  I stick to a schedule of meditation, walking, etc.  Today my son and I deviated from our schedule and went out for lunch and to pick something up from a friend’s house.  We both got so thrown off, we came home and took a deep nap.  I woke up thinking, is everything going to make me tired and in need a nap?  I sure hope not.

            I believe the message I am getting today is to continue living in the day by day mindset for now.  Stick with my schedule, look at my next right steps, and then step into my best future.  I’m sticking to my exercise routine, doing my writing and looking for future opportunities.  If that’s “all” I am doing right now, that’s a lot better than binge watching Netflix and eating Thin Mints. Well, the Thin Mints, they were gone the first week of this pandemic.

Life is what we make it. We are the architects of our lives.  What will you do with yours?

Until My Next Adventure,

Trish Walker

 Check out my “Act As If” program at my website www.trishwalker.us.  Set yourself up for success on the other end of world events.  Who do you want to be when we step into our new normal?

Not Another Manic Monday

“ I Love Mondays: 1. A fresh start; 2. The chance to set a new tone for the rest of the week., 3. A great day to be alive!”

            It’s Monday on Week 4 of Quarantine Life.  How’s everyone holding up?  Today feels kind of heavy for me.  It’s like we had this auspicious holiday yesterday that usually uplifts and is a time for resurrection.  Today is Monday.  Nothing has changed for the most part. It’s a lot of just taking one day at a time and waiting and seeing. Does this mean we have to be glum?  No, we can turn this around.  Let’s start right here and now.

            Yes, we are in uncertain times.  Yes, we have no clue what the future holds but I, for one, am ready to make some changes in my life.  The frustrating thing is I’m ready now, but the world is closed down and I can’t leave the house. Where does this leave me?  With time to craft these changes so that they are the best decisions yet.  It also gives me time to work on my goals and dreams.  We are all on this carousel of uncertainty, but we can make the best of these times and think about what we want, instead of what we don’t want.

            Honor your feelings and emotions right now. We are all dealing with certain stages of grief, frustration and for me, the other day, anger.  Like hot, red anger.  I breathed my way through it, recognized what it was and pushed it out of my sphere.  It will come back.  I’m certain but I won’t try and stuff it down. I’ll reach in, look it right in the eye and see what in my life needs to be changed in order to move it through.  I have some great meditation tools that I am happy to share with you!

            We can make little shifts here and there that amount to a big result.  Small is the new big!  If we try and make big changes right now, we are most likely setting ourselves up for a failure and that won’t help in this day and age.  Focus on the solutions instead of the problem.  What action steps can you take today to start moving you towards that ultimate goal?  Some folks have been asking me lately what their ultimate goal is. I can’t answer that for you but can give you some tips and tools.  For example, what is something that keeps coming to mind whilst in house arrest?  Do you fixate on HGTV shows (okay I do)?  Maybe that’s where your career lies.  There are all aspects of real estate that you can go into.  There’s house flipping, buying, selling, renovations, mortgages, etc.  If you keep coming back to this channel again and again, guess what?  You most likely have a passion for all things real estate. Start researching what that would take as a career instead of watching so much of it on television.

            Listen, I get it. I’m here with you during this quarantine. I’m feeling the feelings, shifting the thoughts and processing the grief and anger like most of you are.  It’s great to process feelings but just don’t unpack your bags there.  Keep it moving.  Watch them as if they are movie and say thank you, thank you, next.  We can either be victims or victors in this thing called life. Which group do you want to be in?

Until My Next Adventure,

Trish Walker

Park City, UT

Check out my “Act As If” program at my website www.trishwalker.us.  Set yourself up for success on the other end of world events.  Who do you want to be when we step into our new normal?

Signs from the Universe

As I sat down this morning to write this blog post, it occurred to me that I had no clue what I was going to write about today. I just knew it would flow through me. This is a first of sorts. I liken it to just putting it out there. I am trusting the universe to take over the reins and give me a voice. Today has been unique. I have had an outpouring of phone calls and messages from people that I haven’t heard from in a long time. These are folks that I have chosen to take a step back from. They didn’t fit into what I have been moving forward into. They are not bad people, just not on the same path as I.  I was questioning why all of sudden did they all reach out on the same day?

As the voice mails and emails appeared , I thought to myself that I should sit and figure out what was going on. What is the pop quiz that the universe was putting to me this first day of the week? I finally got it. I realized after seeing several posts pop up on facebook and sitting on what was happening, it is about going within. Why were these messages so bothersome to me? Why was it irritating to me that someone close to me was once again self-sabotaging himself? I pulled out the proverbial “mirror” and said, why was I irked? It hit me. I am irked because I made the conscious decision to be irked. I was spending my precious energy trying to figure out the behaviors of others. Do you know what this did for me? It gave me the luxury of time spent away from my dreams and visions. If I spent it on others, then I wouldn’t have to go out into that uncomfortable world of the unknown.

When I realized all of this, I kind of got a little excited. I realized that I had a choice here. I could continue going down that path, or I could forge ever forward to do something that felt uncomfortable to me. I could move one step ahead today to get myself closer to my dreams. I could do a huge thing today to get even closer. Bottom line was that it was all in my power.  There are times where, of course, the behavior of others will still affect me. It’s only natural, but what I can do is be there for them with compassion. I can ask them, what would playing a bigger game look like to you?

I ask you the reader, if you have had a situation that you keep re-visiting to get away from the bigger picture. If you do, what will things be like in one year, five years, ten years if you don’t take action now?

"We are our choices." - Jean-Paul Sartre

Until my next adventure,

P.A. Walker

It's As If Someone Turned the Light On.

Today I woke up to the news that yet another earthquake had hit Nepal.  This time the 7.3 earthquake was 42 miles from Namche Bazaar, close to Mt. Everest.  I realized with a start that this is the area that my niece's friend Katie had been trekking in.  I had a Facebook message from Katie not two days ago that she was fine and was staying there until she left to go to Khatmandu in two weeks.   My heart sank when I realized that today she might not be so safe.  I immediately took to social media to see if I could find an answer.  It came via text message an hour or so later, that Katie was indeed safe for now. My first in all of this is that I realized truly for the first time, how quickly a life can be taken.  In the blink of an eye an earthquake could hit and take dozens of lives.  With this mindset, I proceeded to go about my day just a little differently.  I had a new purpose.  I realized that today could be my last day on earth.  If so, did I want to spend it doing meaningless things?  Did I want to spend it watching reality television (not that I make a habit of that).  No, I answered, I want to make every minute count.

Sitting at my desk this morning, I realized that I had an overwhelming urge to help out someone.  I didn't know what form this would take, but quickly realized that it would be one step in the right direction to send a donation to a Go Fund Me Page that I have been reading about on Facebook.  My amazing Reiki teacher Carol Wilson is on the ground working tirelessly in Nepal. Carol landed in Khatmandu just five minutes before the first big earthquake hit.  She could have made the choice to turn around and go home, but instead she is staying to help out with relief efforts.  Below I have attached a link to her Go Fund Me Page.  It has a beautiful video that her kids put together for her for Mother's Day.  What kind, selfless kids she has.  They definitely learned that from their mom.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ6GoIrVP8I[/embed]

Carol's page is http://www.gofundme.com/ubfcsg.

I know it sounds trite to say life has changed for me in this instance, but I keep getting this feeling that in some ways it has.  I have made a deep decision to make some changes and will act on them now.  It's selfish of me to not use this one beautiful life I have been given to give my gifts to the world.  What that looks like might not be so clear right now, but it is time to start moving in that direction and not be afraid to put those gifts out there.  How many people has Carol directly affected by using her gifts to the world?  It may be ten or thousands, but if she didn't have the courage to use her gifts right now in Nepal, the world would be a different place for those affected by this earthquake.

I urge you, the reader, to take some time today and see what changes you might need to instill in your life.  Maybe you are in complete alignment with your purpose.  If so, I applaud you and commend you that you are there.  However, if you are not in alignment, I know the feeling.  I also will think of you as I am making my own strides.  It's hard to put that first foot on the steps, but just imagine what we can do if we keep moving forward!!

God bless all the people affected by these terrible earthquakes.  Let's pray together that they all find peace sooner rather than later!

“Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase." - M.L. King Jr.

Until my next adventure in life,

P.A. Walker