Reached A CrossRoads In Your Life? Here’s How To Get Back On Track

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Life’s Turning Points….Turning Points: when you’re at a crossroads in Life and wondering which way to turn… Simply stop, take a deep breath and maybe a notepad and ask yourself some soul searching questions. The moment you make the decision to commit to a change, the fabric of your reality and existence alters forever. The different weaves that start to thread through your life may be subtle and barely visible, or the weft and warp may create entirely new and varied textures, colors and patterns.

Knowing this, we often delay making decisions when at a crossroads because we hesitate about which is the better path. Alternatively, we may not clearly identify that a turning point awaits until chronic feelings of being stuck, depressed, unfulfilled, disconnected, dissatisfied or caught in an endless holding pattern slowly bring us to the realization that something big must shift.

Turning Points In Your Life Are Challenging: Listen To Your Soul

Either way, turning points in life are challenging because they force you to contemplate the deeper questions that are often swept aside in the rush of daily life. These range from practical queries about the implications of the change:

To the philosophical:

To help you achieve more clarity when answering these questions and mapping the best future course, here are some valuable strategies:

Identify Your Roadblocks…

Be completely honest with yourself about what’s stopping you jumping in and embracing the change. Is it fear that you’re not yet up to handling the promotion, sticking to that alkaline eating plan or becoming a parent?

Once you’ve identified any emotional roadblocks, work on challenging them. Change your self-talk so it’s less critical and more affirming; remind yourself that change prevents stagnation and boredom; note the skills you already possess to help you deal with any drawbacks related to the change.

Then you won’t miss out on opportunities involving change such as applying for a new job or taking the plunge into a new relationship simply because you’re afraid of stepping out of your comfort zone.

Consider All Your Options…

List them in order of preference from the top of your wish list to the bottom.

Beside each one, write the pros and cons of making each different decision.

 Take A break…

Take a few days of sick  leave or get away for the weekend and discuss or contemplate the decision, or simply allow yourself the time and space to relax. Unending busyness can make you feel so disconnected you don’t know what you want or need to feel happy.

Personally, I love this option and I have recently begun taking a week away just for me regularly every few months. To be able to live your day without any restraints, demands or must do’s is incredibly rejuvenating. The space gives your mind time to work on the subconscious and conscious levels…

  Try A Trial Run

Considering starting a family? Care for a friend’s children for the weekend. Thinking about buying a house? Spend a few months sticking to the budget you would have to follow. This will give you a taste of what lies ahead.

Some Turning Points In Life Aren’t Signposted When They Occur

( Some Notice Would Be Nice Thanks!)

 

You meet someone who ends up becoming your life partner or lose a loved one and soon realize it has completely changed your priorities in life. When you’re faced with major turning points and choosing your path consciously, however, it can help to make important inquiries of yourself that prompt you to contemplate the change from different angles.

Asking the questions below can help you navigate four common life-changing decisions.

1). Finding A More Fulfilling Career

From time to time, we all find ourselves idling in a career cul-de-sac. Sometimes the catalyst is unmistakable: you’ve been overlooked for promotion or your company has downsizing policies that have crippled your chances of advancing your career.

But, in many cases, job dissatisfaction is not signposted with an obvious cause. On the one hand, you may kind of like what you do; on the other, you perpetually regale your friends with tales of your workplace woes.
Before you can defeat your job malaise, you need to diagnose the cause.

Questions to consider:…

1. How does my job look after an honest audit?
Assess what impact it has on your stress levels, identity, sense of purpose and leisure time.

Then, note the following:

2. What are my true passions in life?

Write a list of passions and look at jobs that might fit better with them than your current position. Do an internship or some volunteer work at an organization you think might interest you. Drop your résumé off at their human resources department.

Happiness: Why It’s Good For You And Ways To Be Happy!

3. How can I better direct my career path?

Fulfilling careers are nurtured and managed. So pursue further training, other positions or different organizations that fulfill your passions and draw on or further your skills to set you on the path towards a job centered on your passions.

2). Committing To A Relationship

Committed relationships involve intimacy, honest, open communication and give and take. Scared of navigating this emotional territory? You may feel uneasy about the prospect of becoming an exclusive couple, marrying or living with your partner full time.

If singledom is your preferred choice, then your choice to remain solo is an informed one. If not, ask yourself whether you’re looking for reasons to avoid commitment, such as looking for perfection, nitpicking or remaining aloof or blowing hot and cold.

Questions to consider…

1. Do I still feel the emotional scars of a previously unhappy relationship and fear getting hurt?

Turning points in life are challenging because they force you to contemplate the deeper questions that are often swept aside in the rush of day-to-day life.
If so, these scars clearly need to be healed. Talk about it with a counsellor or good friend. Read helpful books and look at thinking approaches that can help you move on and let go of the past such as heartfulness, mindfulness and Eastern philosophies.

2. Have I had unhelpful relationships modelled for me?

If the answer is yes, use couples you admire as your new rote models. Notice how they maintain independence and equality through constant communication, negotiation and acknowledgement of each other’s needs. Write your own template for a relationship with your partner based on the qualities you deem most important.

3. Is my hesitation about freedom?

Remind yourself that, if you cultivate a strong sense of your own identity and beliefs, you can find freedom and stimulation within a committed relationship without sacrificing your independence. Meanwhile, work on building togetherness by sharing your thoughts, feelings and desires with your partner on a regular basis. Avoiding commitment is no insurance policy against getting hurt now or in the future.

4.How can I learn to feel safe about my relationship, instead of trying to put obstacles in its path?

Try these tactics:

3). Starting A Family

Is your proposed “right time^– to have children constantly being shifted to “down the track” because you’re waiting for everything to fall into place first? If so, maybe you simply are not ready yet and need to wait a few more years.

But, if you know your biological clocks are tick-tick-ticking, be careful about constant delays due to finances or career or both. There is never a perfect time to have a baby.

Questions to consider…

1. Haven’t lived enough life yet?

Ask if you have enjoyed enough fulfillment emotionally and spiritually to now take on a role that will require you to be completely selfless. Remember: you don’t have to tick off all your life goats by 35. Maybe you can do the trek to Nepal pre-baby and write the bestselling novel when the kids start school.

Some careers actually require more maturity — so becoming a counsellor or writer in your 40s after you’ve had children may in fact help your career.

2. How will my partner and I address parenting together?

Talk about this from every angle: how you would try to guide your child, how you would split taking parenting leave, what schools you might like to consider, whether you would prefer having a bigger backyard. Discussing the finer points about parenting will help ensure you’re on the same page.

3. What are my biggest parenting fears?

Write a list then talk to other parents about how they handled issues such as tiredness, fear of having to be more grown up and worries about having little patience for a child’s tantrums or tears.

4. Are there fertility issues that should sway my decision?

Fertility does drop in our 30s and even more so in our 40s. Also bear in mind that, if you delay starting a family and discover a health problem such as endometriosis or issues with your partner’s sperm, you will have less time to play with to seek treatment.

Afraid Of Change…

Navigating the territory of a turning point can lead you to seesaw between decisions or be unsure of what you need and want. Change can be scary. To help you assess whether you feel this change is the right choice, try these tips:

• Break it down. Divide the change into small goals and steps and you will soon see if it is manageable.

• Think back. Recognize that your life has involved constant change, such as leaving home and starting a career/ university, and each change brought great new challenges which have helped you thrive and grow.

4). Downsizing To A Slower Life

Do you long to stop sprinting through your life? Then you may be contemplating a substantial downsize. The Stow Movement is the antidote to our epidemic of being time-poor. Revered Canadian Slow Movement ambassador Carl Honoré describes the movement as “a cultural revolution against the notion that faster is always better.

Savor The Hours And Minutes…

It is about savoring the hours and minutes rather than counting them. It is about quality over quantity in everything and has become a universal label to explain the benefits of doing everything at the right speed, from sex, work and education to exercise.”

As the Slow Movement has gained momentum and appeal, it has been applied to all aspects of living, from slow travel (think low-impact, eco, hiking trips etc) and slow money (raising funds for slow enterprises) to slow fashion (choosing vintage, sustainable etc) and slow parenting (prioritising daydreaming and play rather than constant after-school activities), Could it prove the change in life that you need and crave?

Questions to consider

1, Is my job the major obstacle to living more slowly?

If not, you might just need some stress management strategies from a self-help book, counselling or priority (and attitude) changes.

If your job is the problem, consider:

2. What smaller changes can 1 make to give me some quick “slow relief” as soon as possible?

Carl Honoré suggests implementing these go-slow strategies:

3. What daily changes can l make to live more mindfully and slowly in the long term?
Although some people relocate to the country or seaside or leave high-flying jobs to change the pace of their lives, the Slow Movement does not require opting out. You can live in the city and still Live more slowly by:

 Have You Reached A CrossRoads In Your Life?

We all reach a crossroads in our lives at some stage. The cause may be the traumatic ending of a close friendship, the death of a loved one, a spiritual encounter, change of work circumstances, the list can be endless and the fear of change can be paralyzing. As humans we don’t embrace fear well.

If we chose to embrace change, we can discover new depths within ourselves we may never have realized we were capable of. Life presents us with opportunities we may find in hindsight are perfect and just what we needed to help us grow. After all, we were not meant to be static creatures, we are here for this life. Lets make the most of it and embrace it with both hands, You never know what surprises lie around the corner.