Starting Anew
Sometimes I read things I've written in the past and I hate it. I know I'm my harshest critic. 2021 was such a crazy year. Between the pandemic, career changes and my own personal growth, I felt like the past blog posts were just missing something. My heart.
2021 was hard. Understatement of the year. I was also "finding myself". That statement is funny because I remember hearing it as a kid and hearing it with sarcasm and maybe even a bit of disbelief that someone would need to do it.
Well, I'm happy to report in my case, it wasn't about going and upheaving my whole world. I did it from the comfort of my "normal" life and realized it after the fact. Thanks universe!
The primary change was my coaching focus. From working moms to teenagers. Yeah, that was a surprise to even me. I love my working moms. But it didn't feel true to me. I felt like I needed to give them the magic formula to "fix it" when I myself had no clue whatsoever to help myself. Hello Imposter Syndrome. Me, helping you and thinking there could be a balance? Ha! My broken magic wand and my guilt were strapped to a parachute that just refused to open after skydiving.
And then there was that opportunity with my first teen client. Hesitancy turned into honesty. My rarely shared experiences with bullies and my own unique silliness made it an initial fit. And my heart genuinely wanted to fix my magic wand and make life better for my client. Maybe all those years of volunteering for the kids in Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts really made me perfect for this? As I've continued through this path, my heart grows for those I get to coach. Minute by minute and session by session, I know I've found my path.
Next, bus driving. To sit here and say I envisioned this path would have absolutely found a laugh. I never would have imagined going from Media Ops to bus driving (Beep, Beep!). I was terrified going into my first week of training. The size of a bus, the number of kids and it just being NEW scared me. Really scared me. The only thing scarier was actually learning to drive a bus. "What do you mean we're going on the actual road? You mean you don't want me to circle the parking lot a few times?" I remember thinking. But you know what? I'm doing it, I love it and I have a great team of people around me.
And now, add consulting to my list of growth opportunities. Working on my time, for someone I've always genuinely loved working with, is now the icing on the cake. More to come on this chapter as it unfolds!
Somewhere, I created my ideal balance. I'm feeling more "me". It hasn't been an easy road. Far from it. I still have stress and worry, but at the end of the day, I've created something much more valuable. Balance.