ReMindEd   •   June 17, 2016

There are moments within each person’s life, where they find themselves needing to choose which moment they will enter with their next step. This actually happens within each moment, but you know, those pivotel, life-altering, jump-in-the-deep-end moments we get to. Those. I wonder if you were filled with dread or regret at the thought of those type of moments, or filled with excitement and hope. Perhaps our own response to thinking about those moments gives us an insight as to the type of monument we built there.

Because we all build monuments at these points in life- whether we buried a piece, or all, of ourselves at it’s entrance that may well need to be recovered, or whether we left a momentum of an old life we were relieved to see the back of as we walked away. I wonder if there’s still hurt there; if you still grieve; if there’s regret; if you are stuck outside of space and time, longing for a lost life of a loved one, a relationship, of yourself. If so, restoration of the pieces of your heart and soul is available, in the now. We needn’t go back to even get it…

In my life there have been several BIG life-changing moments of decision, often made in a moment, on a whim, in either desperation or anticipation, sometimes running from something that was, and other times running towards something I wanted more than where I was.
These include several inter-state moves, one made to follow a boy to Sydney, quitting uni and leaving my family of origin with two days notice; moving back to family, after deciding the day prior I was done with the life I was creating for myself; deciding to accept a marriage proposal to a boy I had known since I was five years old, before we had started dating; to continue a pregnancy that was unplanned against the attempted persuasion of a GP to abort; to relocate to the city, husband and child in tow, for the hope of a different life; to move back to family years later, now with husband and two children in tow, within a week of realising we were unsettled; to open a florist in the Main Street, then deciding in one day, four months later to close said florist; to build a house; to sell a house; to change countless jobs; to decide to have another baby after the loss of a life unborn; to move to QLD now with husband and four children in tow; to make the decision to trust people again after walking a trauma road; and to decide to open a mind health clinic the week after an unexpected job loss, signing the lease two weeks later…the list could actually go on!

Writing it out like that is amazing. I have always been one to take a risk, make a large decision within a single moment, and walk into that choice very shortly after. And this from a child who was literally afraid of her own shadow, never broke a bone, never did anything with the slightest chance of failure! Yeah, I’ve come a long way.

It’d be great to say all the decisions worked out, were successful, made us happy, were financially profitable. But they weren’t. In fact, most didn’t go as planned, particularly when the theme was running from something, because I took myself with me…

So here’s what I learnt: the risk is worth it! Change itself is prize enough! Doing something is better than doing nothing! You can’t say I didn’t try! Nothing is wasted. All has been restored!

Would I do it again? Yes! Because everything I’ve decided along the way has accumulated to everything I have now. And this is my now:

I run my own business with my husband, helping to teach mind health strategies to others, where they are freed from trauma, and unhelpful beliefs; we have four children who are amazing; we live beside the ocean and I now run barefoot along the sand regularly; we have made a home surrounded by friends and supporters. We are living our dream life!

I encourage you. Step out. Dream big. Follow your passion and your heart. Go after a life you actually want to live in. Take a risk. Make a choice. Any choice. It means getting through hard things. Through through. Do not settle. Do not give up or give in. If you don’t like the space you’re in, don’t live there. Keep going. It will be all worth it!

Towards living,

Sal
Sally and her husband Grant run Reminded mind health clinic in Coolum Beach in Qld.

Www.reminded.com.au