With 10 posts behind me, it’s time I introduce myself & tell you why I started writing this blog.

You & I are going on a road trip – Buckle Up for a Rousing, Magical, Rutted & Always Real, Ride…

1. CREATE COMMUNITY.

FIRST STOP:  GATHER A TRIBE who wants to live a full life.

Community is a BIG motivation for this blog.

Decades back, I was mentally fraying at the edges & fighting to feel better.  To that end, I made a Things-To-Do-To-Get-Healthier list.

Developing a community was dead last on that list, yet it’s the piece that tied it all together.

Community was the final piece of creating more consistent healthy thoughts &  living a life I love.

WHAT COMMUNITY MEANS:

1. CONNECTION – A strong closeness & sense of belonging with ourselves is necessary to have it with other people, but belonging to ourselves doesn’t replace the benefits of connecting with others.

• • The health benefits of community are vast,
  • the richness community adds to your life,
  • the memories created,
  • new perspectives to consider,
  • opportunities to grow & learn,
  • something to look forward to when you anticipate meeting a friend or group, etc…

Even once the experience is over, these moments change us at a fundamental level & enrich our lives throughout our life spans.

2. TRUST – LEARNING TO TRUST other people enough to show them sides of you you may never show anyone & trusting they will accept you because of it.

Sharing how you feel with other people can be the most terrifying & eye-opening experience you’ll have.

You may think showing people the mess within you will push them away – but, try it with people you already trust.  Some of them may be pulled in.

We are all FAR MORE SIMILAR than we are different.   Every person I have opened up to has told me a story often eerily like mine.  When you share with them openly, people will draw closer because they can relate.

2.  ASKING WHAT YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE.  We grow more when we invest in ourselves AND when we invest in the growth of other people.

Not only sharing what we’ve learned but asking what we can contribute takes our own growth & healing to a deeper, more connected level.

The way to reach mastery in any new skill is to teach it to others.  Being involved in the healing & support of other people is a boost to our skillset & therefore our confidence.

No matter how un-social you may feel, we HEAL, GROW & DO BETTER when giving to another being.  

3.  FREEDOM.  When you realize you are not alone, you lose the tendency to hide your voice as often.  You begin to trust, even with new people, that they will relate to you too.

Sometimes they don’t.  Freedom is knowing that is ok too…

4.  SHARING YOUR STORIES GIVES OTHER PEOPLE FREEDOM.  You can see the change on someone’s face when they recognize themselves in your story.

It’s like a 1,000-tonne weight is suddenly lifted off of their shoulders.  They’ve realized they aren’t alone anymore.

There is a huge sense of relief when we hear someone else is feeling or experiencing what we have & speaking the words we have been DYING TO SAY.

Many people think they are the only ones dealing with their level of anxiety, distorted thinking, depression, chronic stress and/or worry.

I write this blog so you can see that you are not alone.

 

2.  Our Shared FEARS

Second Stop:  Accepting Fear.  You don’t get to a certain place in your life where anxiety/fear/worry goes away.

My level of fear & anxiety is manageable & regulated, but it isn’t removed.  Anxiety doesn’t leave; you get better at regulating it:

(Learn positive ways to face your fears here: How To Face Your Fears & Build Resilience.)

Since Covid many people who’d already struggled with fears find it’s increased.  They are still:

• Afraid to go outside.
• Afraid to get together with people.
• Questioning every decision.
• On high alert.
• Keeping on a mask & afraid to take it down.
• Anxious that something, somewhere, will go irreversibly, catastrophically wrong pretty much half of every day…

More people are talking about their social fears (& all types of anxiety).

3.  REFLECTION

People have hit an uncertainty limit.  I hear many people beginning to ditch reaction & take on reflection & express:

a. More Emotions

I hear more honest conversations now.  I hear more feeling content from people.  Since Covid, more people have opened up access to their emotional world that may have been shut off prior to the pandemic.

I hear more emotional textures in people’s language.  More reflection in their tone.  It seems like a bigger tribe is feeling more than they have before.

b. More Sharing & Talking

People are talking about how afraid they’ve been of venturing outside.  But, unfortunately, this has led to the discovery of how scary it has been for them to venture INside (their own hurt) as well.

They’re discovering & talking about the hurt they’ve experienced.

They are talking about looking for love & being rejected by their parents, their spouses, their children, their friends…

Because more people are talking, we are more willing to share our hurts as we hear others share theirs.

c. Increased Willingness To Learn About Ourselves:

Some people just realized who they are & their community is changing as a result.

They may have thought their feelings meant something was wrong with them.  But they realize now that they are not broken.  There isn’t anything wrong with them; they weren’t taught how to give & receive love from the people tasked with that responsibility when they were young.

They are learning they didn’t let themselves down; now they realize that they were let down by someone else & they are learning that they have to teach themselves now.

My Hope?  Therefore I encourage you to keep or start accepting your emotions, sharing your truths & embracing self-reflection.

Talking about & owning your stories helps move pain. 

 

 

If you want real conversations & deeper realizations…get into my ENCOURAGEMENT CIRCLE
– I share personal blunders, fumbles & wins.
– I rally around & inspire you to move to where you want to be by offering options you may not have seen before.

Download my free training here:  Unravel Your Negative Thoughts & get access to The Encouragement Circle.  I look forward to greeting you there.💛

Related Articles:
This Is Why You Can’t Relax.  7 Ways To Rest Your Brain.

How To Process Your Negative Feelings

How To Stop Stressing About The Future.