Life in the very fast lane...: Latest published article from Inspire magazine.
F...: Latest published article from Inspire magazine. Finding your happy place When my daughter was born, her much-loved God-father gav...
Tuesday 19 November 2013
Latest published article from Inspire magazine.
Finding your happy place
When my daughter was born, her much-loved God-father gave
her an exquisite silver compass. The
gift arrived clothed in a velvet pouch, housed within a sturdy box, with a silver
stamp explaining its Scottish heritage.
I remember clearly holding the object of beauty in my hand, and reading
the engraving on the front cover – “The world is your oyster. Enjoy life, and find your own true north”.
I was a new mother, experiencing all the emotions that
arrive with that experience, and so, opening that gift and reading those words
led to tears welling up in my tired eyes instantly.
Many years have come and gone since that event, yet I still
remember that inscription, and from time to time, to remind myself of needing
to find my own way, I take out the compass and hold it in my hands for a few
minutes, attempting to focus on where my true north is, and remembering to take
heed and not forget that each person is different, and whilst the earth has one
true north, we as individuals all operate with our own manuals, our own
compass, and our own emotional G.P.S.
Some people call it finding your happy place, which I
guess it is, however, it is more to me, about finding your own true north. At some point in our lives, we all need to
come to an understanding of exactly what makes us tick. In my experience, my life until the age of
thirty was just one field of true north.
I was lucky enough to be surrounded by happiness, love, and an endless
supply of one of my favourite pass-times… fun.
Life was a breeze, and then I turned thirty.
The decade from thirty to forty was more like a raw patch
of south rather than a cool breeze from the north. The fun was taken over by responsibility,
motherhood, late nights, early mornings, a push to prove myself from a career
perspective, a world more competitive than I could ever have imagined, and many
personal losses which at times left me reeling.
Until responsibility set in, which was a shock to my
system, life was one big cruise at the front of the ship. I was Rose standing with my arms
outstretched, with a delicious Leonardo DiCaprio behind me. And then came the iceberg.
The path that followed is not really one to be discussed,
but I will say that I am grateful now for that iceberg – it humbled me, brought
me back down to earth with a massive jolt and it forced me to look within for
my happiness. To date, probably my
hardest yet most valuable lesson.
I would argue that I have read more self-help books than
the average librarian; and as much as I at times sound like an iPod full of
positive tunes and sayings, the research and self-analysis has, in hindsight,
served me well. Having crossed the bridge
aptly named “pain, loss and suffering”, I am today almost at the other side of
adversity, and I am too, firmly of the belief that what Aristotle said in his
lifetime was true – “it is possible to fail in many ways...while to succeed is
possible only in one way”. One has to
search, and search, and continue to search, until you find your own true north,
your center, your port in the storm, the core of your being, which equates to
your happy place. When all else is
stripped away from you, and you have only yourself to rely on, to fall back on,
and to be with in the lonely moments, are you happy with the company you
keep? The destination may take a
lifetime to find, but the journey is the part that is truly the experience to
behold.
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