accepting where I am · 3X Freedom

accepting where I am

Do you ever have this pervasive thought: “I should be…” fill in the blank with somewhere other than where you currently are?

I know I do.

When I was younger, I would push myself super hard to satisfy this standard, to get to where “I should be”. It could be meeting a deadline, milestone, or physically getting invited to some event or group.

Sometimes I ‘succeeded’; most of the time, I didn’t.

But even ‘success’ felt hollow.

When I got where I thought I wanted to be, I slowly realized in the pit of my stomach that it wasn’t a welcoming place for me.

AND I was exhausted. Using all of that energy to push myself to be somewhere I wasn’t weakened me to the point I could not stand.

Over time, it was clear that I wasn’t actually ‘supposed’ to be there, in spite of my thoughts that I “should”.

Now, I’m learning to remind myself: my only job is to accept the truth of where I currently am.

When I forget that, I encounter many forms of fear that feel stifling.

When I remember and practice that, I immediately experience a sense of freedom and expansion.

As purpose-driven leaders, we want to be responsible, make the most of the gifts we’ve been entrusted with.

The challenge is: not falling back into the exhausting performance spiral of constantly trying to be somewhere we’re not.

The tug is so strong all around us. It’s hard to resist.

This is not a knock on goal-setting but a practical choice to appreciate in each and every moment where we already are, and not needing that to be different.

Then the growth can slowly become an experience to enjoy, as opposed to a pressure to endure.

This goes counter to what we were taught to value, and that, my friend, is the whole point.

In this period of global transition, we can sense that the old way of succeeding will NOT get us through to what’s coming.

This way, the way of accepting that where I think I should be is not where I currently am, and that’s ok, is a way that I keep returning to.

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