I personally can claim that I owe the woman that I am today to so many people (both men and women) who have taken me under their wings. I’ve been fortunate by having strong, intellectual women in my life during my formative years. As time went by, the superiors, professors, peers, and colleagues I have had who enthusiastically encouraged me to step up to the plate. My way of giving back is to be of service to others by sharing the wisdom I have learned, being a mentor, and sharing the lessons that life has given me.
Not that I am perfect nor the life role model you must become! Far from that. I still have my share of disappointments, mistakes, and wrong turns. But what I want to share with you is the one thing every woman must understand about guilt. As a young woman, I was raised to be the perfect daughter – excellent grades, a medical career on the horizon, admission to a top ranking university. I had it all lined up at the age of 21. Only to realize half-way through medical school that I was living a lie. A huge lie that I wanted to receive a medical degree and spend 30+ years of my life in the practice of medicine.
Guilt comes in many forms. I spent my 20’s overcoming the guilt of having quit medical school. One of the outcomes of my guilt was my insatiable appetite to prove my self. Earning professional certificates and multiple graduate degrees like nobody’s business. Except for a doctoral degree. Somehow, when I was enroled for my doctorate degree in 2012, unknowing to me, I was mirroring the symptoms of someone suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from that old guilt (of quitting med school) that I could not bring myself to focus. I ended up leaving the program abruptly.
What I want to drive with this article is for you to recognize your feeling of guilt. If you are about to make a life-changing decision that you feel in your heart that you must do. I ask you to listen to that call. Stop your rationalizing and ask the question, “What is the worst thing that could happen?” and then move forward to blocking your thoughts to the “HOW.”
Believe me when I say that the only decision you need to do at this point is to give an answer – a YES or a NO. Whichever you choose, embrace your decision wholeheartedly that every cell in your body is united with you. Do not wait for the perfect chance. Do not wait for the perfect moment. Do not wait for someone to make a decision for you.
The HOW will be shown to you through synchronicity. I am not going “woo woo” on you here. Have you ever scrolled on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram and glanced upon a quote– and felt like it was written for you? Then, you silently say to yourself,” This is MY quote!” Or perhaps you are reading this article right now and this is giving you hope that you too, could create a life you truly wanted to live, instead of settling for the one that you are used to, that is comfortable, that is safe and that you do not feel guilty about because there are people you love that are counting on you.
Coincidence, perhaps? Perhaps the message came to you for a reason.
Deep in your gut, you know…THAT ONE thing that will make you feel alive again. Yet you are fighting not to do or pursue that ONE THING. You feel guilty, you feel you are cheating the people you love. You are taking away security, stability, future, and love. You are just being selfish.
THINK AGAIN.
If at this very moment, you feel dead within …for feeling stuck at a job that no longer inspires you, for feeling hollow in a relationship that should have ended a long time ago, and for feeling that you have lost your self somewhere after becoming a wife and a mother.
The only guilt you need to have is the guilt for not doing anything about your current status. You owe it to the people that love you to have that woman back! That woman who lives and breathes with so much life that it is infectious. That woman, that when she smiles, she glows all around. That woman who has the courage to say, “Okay, Universe. I’m ready. I don’t know HOW but I know I need to do this.”
Let your generosity start with YOU.
Originally published at zensavvymomma.com