The past year has been a tough one. Several people in my family have gone through life-changing situations – some medical issues, some broken relationships – and I’ve spent a lot of time this past year helping, listening, worrying, making sure my time was available for my family members.
We also became empty nesters this year, which is its own kind of transition.
The result is that I’ve felt like I’ve lost myself a little bit.
I feel like I’m spending too much time “waiting for the other shoe to drop” and it’s been hard to try to look forward with a positive outlook.
I wonder if you can relate to this feeling?
A few months ago, I ran across this quote from Austin Kleon:
“It seems to me that the reason that so many of us feel like we’re languishing is that we are trying to flourish in terrible conditions.”
That had me wondering what kind of conditions I needed to foster in order to promote flourishing in my life.
I took a good, hard look at where I was emotionally, socially, spiritually, physically… and from there I made a plan to gradually increase my feeling of flourishing.
My plan will look different from your plan, because we’re starting in different places and have different aims, but I wonder if you’d like to join me in setting some conditions in our lives to flourish this year?
Important – I’m not an expert in this at all! This is a focus I have for myself this year and I thought it might be interesting to invite others along on the journey.
Also, I’m not trying to achieve a life without struggles. Instead, I’m looking to build some practices and habits into my life that will foster resilience and calmness, no matter what circumstances arise.
Good idea
I’m in a similar stage in life. My husband and I are big planners and we started the year off with a bang! I’m happy to follow along in your journey.