by Catherine Schasser
Hi. Hello to you, the reader of these words. As we spend this time together, I’m curious about you. If we were together, I’d notice your surroundings, your style and your mannerisms. I’d ask you questions to gain greater details of your relationships and interests, like how many children you have, do you have siblings, have you studied, do you have a secret passion? What are your struggles, your hopes and dreams? And most significantly, I’d want to hear the story of you.
Right now, what would you tell me about yourself? If you knew this description would only live in the confines and safety of your knowing, what’s the story you’d share? Are you confident, scared, excited, grateful, proud, angry, lost, lonely? Who are you right now?
Oh, how I wish I knew the whispers in your mind. You know, those persistent thoughts and feelings that meander up, down, over, under and through every pathway, cell and fibre of your brain, your body and your being.
Are you glad of these thoughts because they inspire, energise and motivate you through life, or in contrast, are you done with them? Do you yearn for the day you wake up and feel free of anxiety and fear and able just to enjoy life for what it is? Maybe that thought, the possibility of not being anxious, has never crossed your mind? Either way, whether you’re an eternal optimist, the in-control-reliable one, the adult who continues to live as the uncertain 12-year-old or anywhere in between, we HAVE to talk about this.
“Identity is this incredible, invisible
force that controls your whole life.
It’s invisible like gravity is invisible,
but it controls your life.”
Anthony Robbins
WHO ARE YOU?
For some the answer is clear and resourceful. For others it’s debilitating.
Who you are in my opinion, is a phenomenal, wonderful, perfect woman doing the best you can with what you’ve been provided on your journey through life. The labelling of you needs no defining or absolute measure however. What it does deserve is an awareness, openness and faith.
Right now, you may be feeling peaceful, but you know when you rest your head, the world quiets and stills and you allow yourself to stop, the worry will return. This isn’t who you are. This is what you’re feeling. There’s a difference between the two. This is your very clever, very receptive and very capable body communicating the perceptions you have of your world. See, your thoughts are what create your feelings, your feelings are what create your actions and your actions are what create your results. These results are often the ‘evidence’ of who you ‘are’. I offer apostrophes here to question the truth of these suggestions. Is evidence and who you are really the truth?
As you continue on your way today, I encourage you to gently consider the labels you place, or are placed, upon you. Self-identification (‘I am’ statements) are a powerful, powerful strategy to move you closer to your dreams….or further away from them. I urge you to consider them purposefully.
Consider the implications of this identification for children too. Children are young. They’ve only been alive and playing this game of life for a few years, surely they ought to be granted the gift of freedom, expression and options, so they may experience the fullness of life, without the squashing and conforming we adults can often apply?
This is my wish for you also. Limitations of ‘its just who I am’, ‘I could never do that’, ‘I was always an anxious child’ or ‘it’s always been done that way’ reduce the opportunity for your soul to truly come alive! Break through these stories and give yourself permission to rewrite the rest of your story – this one chance to live the life of your dreams.
With gratitude, Catherine
For free resources to support you in your mothering role, go to
www.developingdreams.com.au
Catherine is the co-founder of Developing Dreams, a local company ’empowering children one adult at a time’. This vision is achieved through the educational curriculum at Developing Dreams Early Learning Centre named 2019 Best Small, Private, Regional Centre in NSW, and through coaching programs written and facilitated by Catherine. Email catherine@developingdreams.com.au for further information or to find out how you can be EMPOWERED in your life.