07 September
Julie Henderson
When I think about midlife, the word that rings in my head is "reckoning".
Not the "I reckon it's about time to milk the cows" kind of reckoning.
Rather the "DAY OF RECKONING" kind.
The “being forced to face what you have been avoiding” kind of reckoning.
The "confrontation with life itself and one's place in it" kind of reckoning.
Midlife and later adulthood is full of such moments, and they can happen any time, any where, in all kinds of ways.
From simple moments of awareness that time is passing, to the moment when you receive a devastating diagnosis, your partner informs you that they're leaving, or when a loved one dies.
What I’ve learned from the women I've worked with is that what really matters in those moments of reckoning is having courage.
The courage to step out of the known, the comfortable, and the familiar, and take the risk to become someone new.
Someone whole.
Happy.
Content.
Fulfilled.
To fill your life with what makes your soul sing.
To look deeply at your life and be willing to feel, to let go, and to become.
It also takes discipline to create the time and space you need for your soultending, let alone actually use it.
But damn it’s scary!
It’s easy to ignore it. To put it off.
Because who knows what could happen if you make a change?
Better to leave well enough alone.
After all, who says you get to be happy and fulfilled, snowflake?
So you make excuses. You convince yourself that everything is "fine", and you just keep on keepin’ on.
The thing is, I truly don't believe we're supposed to be just “OK”, let alone unsatisfied and unhappy.
In fact, I believe those feelings are our inner warning system letting us know that something is off.
That there's work to be done.
I believe this because it's been true for me and for the women I've worked with.
I believe that you deserve to thrive.
Do you?