Listen to your life. See if for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness…because in the last analysis all moments are key moments and life itself is grace.
Frederick Buechner
Listen To Your Life
“Listen to your life”, said the voice in my head (more like the words on the page of my Morning Pages). And I decided to heed the voice. To make changes in my life that wouldn’t go down well with others, but something that I just had to do.
When I decided at the start of this year to say ‘yes’ to challenges and opportunities and push myself out of my comfort zone, I realized that I would have to be saying ‘no’ to things that were taking my time, sapping my energy or just not serving me any more.
One of the these things was the Facebook group and the Signal (replacing Whatsapp) group I ran for quite a while. I noticed many people stopped by when they had the time, when they had a query or when they had a problem. Not too many people were regular. While appreciating those that were, I had to ask myself how these groups were serving me. The answer was that they only made me responsible but didn’t translate into much more of what I need at this time. (I’m grateful to my dear blogger friend, Holly Jahangiri, for quickly offering to create groups in place of the ones I closed down. I’m certain her lovely personality will get a lot more people active!)
I realize we sometimes cling on to things out of habit, for nostalgic reasons, or because we don’t want to offend others. We’ve got to stop and listen to our lives and ask whether these things are relevant anymore. More often than not, the answer will surprise us.
By saying ‘no’ to some things, I have more freedom to say ‘yes’ to learning, writing and creating. It also helps me to be more authentic.
“The oldest, shortest words – ‘yes’ and ‘no’ – are those which require the most thought.”
Pythagoras
#MondayMusings is changing
This brings me to my #MondayMusings feature. I had stopped it for a while and decided to revive it again. I added the linky to my posts like I used to. Once again, I had to stop and ask myself whether I needed this. How was it serving others? More importantly, how was the linky serving me. I decided that I’d rather point people in the direction of a much more vibrant community that already exists. So while I will continue to write my posts on Mondays, I’m doing away with the linky and pointing you in the direction of Anita Ojeda’s Inspire Me Monday link-up.
I will be happy to read your comments and posts as always!
This is such great advice, Corinne. We all need to “listen to our lives” and focus on those things that serve us and others (when that is something we need, want, or feel driven to do – never out of a sense of weighty obligation).
And we should all get better at asking for help when we need it. I would never have presumed to step in and help or start a new group based on your ideas if you hadn’t asked. I would never have wanted to pull anyone away from the “tribe.” I am so glad you still want to be a part of the community you brought together and nurtured for so long. I’m happy to keep the home fires burning!
Holly recently posted..Life, Uplifting
Obligation is the right word, Holly.
Thank you for all you are and all you do. Hugs.
Corinne Rodrigues recently posted..The Windmills Of Your Mind | #Wordless Wednesday
Love the thought of listening to your life! I think you made really wise decisions to let go of things and to say yes to new things that take you out of the comfort zone!
Thank you, Amy. Yes, I’m trying to be brave! 🙂
We need to ask these questions regularly and change according to our current needs and circumstances. Otherwise no matter how hard we try growth would be stagnant and we would end up in a state of doing too much and accomplishing too little. I am glad you are making the necessary changes to bring you happiness, Corinne. Monday Musings served us for a long time. You can always revive it when you want to do it. Thank you for sharing the Inspire Me Monday link-up. I will check it out sometime.
Always here for you, Corinne!
Vinitha recently posted..Fiction Monday – 38
Knowing when to let go of something and actually following through can be so difficult. Kudos to you for evaluating whether or not things were living up to their purposes. It’s easy to just stay in our ruts instead, but you broke out of yours. You’re setting a great example for the rest of us, Corrine!
I hear you, Corinne! The letting go must have released a big chunk of your time and energy to focus on other areas. You definitely deserve to do that and I can tell this will be a move in the right direction.
Hugs and loads of positive energy your way, Corinne.
<3
Esha recently posted..Revisiting ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ | #SoulfulSunday