There are times in life when enough is enough. When you reach a line in the sand. When the universe’s NO keeps screaming at you from all directions. When you feel sure, beyond all reasonable doubt, that the waters you are swimming in are not the waters you are suited to – that you are a freshwater fish swimming in the sea. That the very thing you are absorbing as you go about your business is slowly (or not so slowly) poisoning you.
And much like a freshwater fish swimming in the sea, we don’t (and often can’t) simply leap out of the unhealthy waters and into the healthier ones.
Often it is a slower, more insidious process whereby we recognise that we aren’t getting the nutrients we need – that we are slowly losing energy – that the colour is draining out of cheeks, and our vibrancy is reducing with every passing day.
Sometimes the signs are more obvious to others than to us.
Sometimes it takes the feedback from a coach or a loved one who notices that you don’t seem to be thriving in this particular environment.
That there is a darkness to the way you’re talking about this experience.
That you seem to be surrounded by challenge – and not the good kind.
That your most deeply held values are being trampled on every which way.
This process of realisation can be slow. There can be much peering into the metaphorical mirror – wondering whether that feedback is accurate.
Has something changed in you? Have you started seeing the world through a more pessimistic lens. Has your relationship to hope become tenuous at best? Has your laughter got a bitter edge to it these days?
And these moments can be even more uncomfortable if these ill-fitting waters carry a good dose of social approval with them.
Perhaps it’s the exciting new job that everyone enthused about – a promotion that promised hugely, but under delivered massively. Perhaps the people around you are super excited about this development in your life, and (for all the reasons) want or need you to keep swimming in those waters.
These are the moments when going inward is the only option. When finding a ‘third space’ to speak openly to someone who is invested you as a whole human being really matters.
Someone who has no skin in the game when it comes to the waters you are swimming in.
Someone who is committed to supporting your personal growth, whichever direction it should take you.
These people exist.
I am one of them.
Let me help you navigate the currents of personal growth and find the waters that truly nourish your spirit.