We’ve all been there. Where there’s a profound feeling of emptiness for one reason or another. A move, a death, a new job, a break-up, a loss of any significance. A time of transition or change that rocks your world.
Early this morning at a leadership retreat, we began the day with a meditation practice focused on forgiveness. And while I am not here to write about meditation — nor about forgiveness — the experience took me back to a moment I was sitting across from a trusted advisor on a coffee shop patio nearly two years ago. It was one of those moments of emptiness, of disbelief, sadness, confusion — you name the emotion and it was heightened.
I remember it was in that moment when it came to me.
I took the initiative to ‘reframe’ the situation in my mind. Not to mask or bury difficult feelings — but to look at things from a different perspective.
I could stare into a deep, dark void and spiral downwards — or I could see a bucket and start filling it up.
I could fall or I could fly. I could dwell or I could thrive. I could be the pessimist or the optimist.
And while we each have our own coping mechanisms for the trials and tribulations of life… For the unexpected curve balls. For the times when there seems to be no sense, no logic, no explanation at all. I say find your bucket.
I often revisit mine. And I try to find ways to fill it everyday. With adventures, friendships, experiments in the kitchen, times of solitude and times of companionship, simple acts of kindness, miles on my bike, opportunities to learn and to listen, and who knows what else along the way… #yearofhellyes #smilealways #laughmore #pessimistsneednotapply #findyourbucket
“Change your thoughts and you change your world.”
— Norman Vincent Peale
“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.”
— Buddha
