Sucker Punched by Life… Again

 

Asking yourself “Why does this keep happening to me?”

 

I’m a good person.  I volunteer in my community.  I happily pay my taxes.  I believe in the inherent goodness of mankind and strive to make the world a better place with my endeavors.  I believe that you reap what you sow and I have made it a point throughout my life to sow kindness, integrity and conscious diligent effort in my chosen responsibilities as a parent, partner and business person.  On top of all of that, I am truly, in my very core, a very optimistic person.
Why then, I’d ask myself, do I keep getting sucker-punched by life?  Despite all of my good and worthy intentions, my hard work and ethical standards, I was not happy.  Something was wrong; things were somehow imbalanced.  I was not fulfilled.  Why was I not receiving the bounty that I so freely gave?  I had been secretly asking this of myself for years, and, coming to no identifiable conclusion, began to question my self-worth.  I developed anxiety and slowly started sinking into depression.  The disharmonious circumstances in which I had found myself eventually manifested into physical discord within my body.
As things were really starting to fall apart, I could see that if something did not change in my life, I would continue to decline.  I recognized that I needed some professional guidance.  My business was suffering.  My marriage was suffering.  My health was suffering.  I sought out the help of a business coach, a life coach and an alternative health care provider.
 

On the Road to Healing

Throughout my life I’d seen a few therapists, various medical practitioners, and had taken several different business workshops and classes, always in the pursuit of evolving myself.  It’s not as if I were neglecting myself, per se.  I had put forth a goodly effort in trying to maintain the equilibrium of my career, family and health.  What made the profound difference in my experience with these 3 professionals was that, at this point in my life, I was truly ready to see the stumbling blocks that were keeping me from thriving.
In talking with Kimberly Hunter (business consultant, Asheville), Leslie Frey (life coach, Asheville) and Dr. Marie Andersson (alternative health care provider, Hendersonville), I was able to see a pattern that had continued to repeat in my life, each cycle becoming progressively more volatile in the process.    At the end of my wits and ready to face the challenge head-on, I stepped up my game and took an honest look at myself and how to change the course of my life.

What You’ve Got and What You Need

When the circumstances in life force you to take a good, hard look at yourself, you will start to compare what it is that you’ve got vs what it is that you need.
Make a list; divide it up into two columns: What You’ve Got and What You Need.
Some things will come to you readily; others will slowly trickle into your perception.  The tricky part is to truthfully and honestly categorize each into its proper column.
After you have completed your two lists, see where they do not match.  With this exercise, you will start to notice what it is that you truly want out of life and where, at present, you are unfulfilled.  Through recognizing and acknowledging the importance of this information, you can start to consciously and logically realign yourself to your true heart’s desire.  It is when you are in alliance with your true desires and needs out of life, that you will begin to see doors of opportunity open up for you to actualize and maximize your potential and to thrive.