For some people passing the middle age mark feels challenging. I’ll admit that sometimes I’m one of them. Yet for me, one of the best things about getting older is the ability to take a step back and look at my stuff, and I don’t mean my tea collection.
It’s safe to say that most adults are still carrying around some baggage left over from childhood; if their parents were great, the school bully wasn’t. Stepping into adulthood, I personally held enough baggage to fill a small cargo plane.
It’s taken me years of practice: yoga, meditation and some therapy here and there to get to a place of letting go. I’ve recognized and felt good about my ‘letting go’ more and more frequently as the years have passed, occasionally sharing progress with my siblings without ever being asked. So, you can imagine my surprise when just a short few days into an extended holiday family visit my normally calm demeanor went flying out the window.
To be fair, it wasn’t just the visit. Holidays are always emotionally loaded, and a series of odd and unexpected events only added to the fray. One shipment of gifts I’d spent hours packaging arrived damaged, apparently having broken open at the post office. Some items were missing while I gained several new ones, including 3 copies of “adult” comic book porn. Really. The other package didn’t arrive at all. This marked the beginning of 2.5 weeks in the desolate east coast winter with lots more baggage left to unpack.
It’s usually the most formative relationships that hold the greatest power to trigger an unplanned emotional response. I didn’t reach the point of full meltdown exactly, no outbursts per se – instead I settled on replaying my “poor me” story until I started to spin. “Ruminate” is the clinical term for the kind of incessant mental rehashing I found myself up to my knees in.
I spent the next day gathering my arsenal of proof that all of my childhood hurts were now valid and offenses still ongoing. The craziest part is I had just completed an article about this very subject; the importance of taking action and then letting go when the outcome doesn’t match expectations. So, to add insult to injury I now felt like a fraud.
This emotional crisis went on for 2 days before a reality check came in the form of a conversation with my mother in law. When I mentioned we were leaving our hosts for a weekend trip to the city, her unfiltered response was “oh good, your parents will probably be happy to have a break”.
It took me a minute to get my head around that one. This unintentional reminder that there are two sides to every drama, even mine. And more importantly, both sides are equally credible in a voluntary relationship. Perhaps having a loud group of 4 in your otherwise quiet household, offering unsolicited advice about what you need to do with your 50 years of accumulated belongings isn’t all the delight I’d imagined it to be.
This slice of humble pie came at a good time, with 2019 looming large on the horizon. ‘What can I learn from this experience?’ I had to ask. The lesson was obvious, letting go is a process, one that gets easier with practice, but the work is never really done. And the most trying situations are those that offer the greatest growth opportunities.
All said, I love that the same challenges I encourage my clients to meet are the same standards I hold myself accountable to. If I were already the person I strive to become, I wouldn’t be able to connect from a place of compassion. I wouldn’t be good at my job. When I ask those I work with to step outside of their comfort zones and trust themselves to let go of the past so they can keep moving forward, it’s because I expect this of myself, knowing these efforts will ultimately build resilience rather than cultivate defeat.
My goals for 2019 are different than they were in years past, circumstances are different and with another year under my belt, so am I. But the undercurrent stays the same; to use challenge as a path to growth, instead of letting setbacks defeat me.
I’m entering the new year with a fresh new bout of wisdom, thanks to my holiday visit, which fortunately ended on a high note. So, here’s to overcoming obstacles, letting go and moving forward on the path to growth in 2019!
About the author
Elizabeth Borelli is a professionally trained career coach, curriculum developer and workshop facilitator. Frustrated by a lack of resources for candidates ready to return to work after a career break, she created CareerBuilder Bootcamps; a set of interactive, online courses to accelerate job search success.
Engaging, online courses combined with one-to-one coaching calls prepare job seekers to find the right new career opportunities, helping them to stay positive and engaged throughout the process.
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