Are You Paying Attention?
Sheila was a going through the motions and feeling very unsatisfied with everything. From her daily routine, to the job she spent far too many hours working at. Even her relationships felt stale. Conversations at home were routine. Chit chat with her friends was shallow and unfulfilling.
As she neared her 60th birthday, she wondered, is this all there is to life. Rinse. Repeat. Living life on a never ending loop.
Little did she know, Sheila taking the time to wonder, was the first really big step she could take to changing her life forever.
IS THIS IT?
One day, Sheila took a big step forward. She had been noticing for months now how different her boss had been acting. Despite having gone through a bitter divorce, COVID and ailing aging parents, Mona seemed happy. Sheila couldn’t imagine dealing with all that Mona had plus dealing with the company and all the nonsense that came with her role.
So why was she so darn happy? She decided to find out.
After their weekly staff meeting, Sheila stayed behind. Mona sensed something was up as she was collecting her things and asked if Sheila was alright. Sheila said she was but that she had a question, one of a personal nature. Mona, being the smart leader that she was, sat down.
“I’ve noticed a change in you,” Sheila said.
“Oh?” her boss said. “What is that?”
“Excuse me for saying so, but you seem happy!” To which Mona couldn’t help but laugh.
“Well Sheila that’s because, I guess, I am happy,” she said with the biggest smile. “I suppose you are the first person to say something but I’m glad it shows. And thank you for noticing!”
Sheila nervously blurted out, “Well I want to be happy too!”
So began a deep and meaningful conversation. Sheila told Mona how she had been questioning her life and wondering if this it was this all there was. The proverbial hamster wheel that had become her life. She opened up at a level she never expected and yet Mona sat there, listening intently with no judgement.
“You my friend, are ready for what’s next. You are ready to wake up and really live.”
ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?
Mona shared the wake up call that had started her down the path of change. It had come after a big fight with her daughter about who was really responsible for the divorce. Mona had been the bad guy deciding after 20+ years to file for divorce and both her daughter and son hated her for it. Her life was a mess. Her finances were in shambles. And now, her kids hated her.
She confided in Sheila that she was literally at a breaking point until she received some advice from a close friend. “Are you paying attention? Are you noticing the big steps you’ve taken to move on with your life and fix a bad situation? Do you realize how much courage that takes? You think you are weak but that’s just because the new muscles of change haven’t chiseled in yet.”
Mona went on to share that she understood where Sheila was coming from because she had been there. She remembers the day that she realized that life had become one endless cycle of do-overs. She was a breaking point and didn’t even realize it. Until her friend asked her if she were paying attention. Clearly she hadn’t been.
The problem with noticing something and continuing to live with it is quite literally insanity at it’s finest. The better course of action is always to let what you’ve noticed be a big enough wake up call to get you to take action and make some changes.
ACTION IS UNCOMFORTABLE BUT NECESSARY
Mona shared a few strategies she took to take those very first and scary steps to change. Sheila couldn’t write down what she was hearing fast enough. She wanted to absorb the absolute magic coming out of Mona’s lips.
Then something strange happened. Mona reached over and snatched the pen from Sheila’s hands. “You don’t need to write this down, you already know this. It’s time to make some changes. Sure it’s scary. You bet it will be hard. But girl you have woken up long before you asked me any of this. You recognized that life just isn’t cutting it any more for you and believe it or not, you’ve already started to take action. Just asking me about all this stuff is huge but even if you hadn’t, recognizing that you are stuck in neutral and you are a woman built for speed, well no one is gonna stop you. You just needed a little nudge in the forward direction. I hope I’ve given you that.”
Shelia had done the heavy lifting already. She had been paying attention and definitely noticed that things were off. Sure we could speculate that without Mona’s help she might never have done anything about it but I don’t personally believe that.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I recently heard a speaker on a podcast say, “Life is short. It either makes us or we make it.”
The problem is, most of us don’t realize we have a choice. But now you do!
So my friend, are you paying attention? Are you where you need to be? Are you living your best life? Why or why not?
Perhaps it’s time we all start asking the heavy questions and paying attention to the life we’ve created. Just to check in and make sure we are on the right path.
No doubt, most of us have some work to do if we hope to catch up to Mona and Sheila. Or stay on your hamster wheel.
Are you tired of running on your own hamster wheel? Imagine what kinds of Ripples you could create for yourself with a coach. Curious? Drop me a line and I’ll share two really easy ways to experience this process and gain some powerful perspective on your life, career and whatever else you need help with! Email steve@ripplecentral.com
If you can’t wait, check out the new Virtual Ripple Coaching Program