Life Changing Turning Points

Most of our lives we’ve been told what was right or wrong - what to say, what to do, and even how to think.

Then along comes this little bird (sometimes with a loud speaker or a sledge hammer) that starts asking…

What am I doing here?

Why am I doing what I am doing?

What is my real reason for being?

Why am I so unhappy?

or even simply…

Why me?

Many people at one point reach a crossroad or turning point in their lives. As Yvonne Foong said, sometimes it takes a disease, and sometimes all it takes is a knock on the head to wake us up,

But let’s not wait for tragedy to have our life unfold shall we?

Let’s instead, use a little imagination and fast forward our growth in a more fun way.

If you die tomorrow, what will you be doing now?

The answer to that is a huge difference between what you should do and what you want to do.

What you want and can do gives you freedom of choice.

What you should do just gives you anxiety attacks and stomach ulcers.

We often fall victim to our ‘should-do’ lists.

Making a change appears hard. You have to go through a whole new learning cycle. Once again you start afresh with a future unknown.

What about the risks?

What if you fail?

Your outlook, attitude, thoughts, actions, and possibly even your friends and loved ones will change.

You will make mistakes. Your hidden weaknesses and strengths will emerge. You will need to learn defeat and accept failure. You will need to learn to be honest with yourself and to ask for help.

It is a whole process of change that leads you into a new life. You may fail, look utterly stupid, get hurt and hurt others in this process. You may lose everything – your job, friends and family. You may feel illogically guilty, scared, and/or alone.

Fear can lock us into a corner or surge us into action. Unreal, unfounded, fear creates phobia and unhealthy habits. Real, healthy, factual fear, however, helps us plan in advance to avoid pitfalls and hardship that may slow us down. Use fear to your advantage.

You may live with uncertainty for a while, but it is all in preparation for a new direction in life.

You may need to confront some demons within yourself or even those within loved ones. The fears that have been holding you back all this while may emerge that much stronger to pull you back once again. External voices and opinions of others might start putting doubts in your heads. These are tests to see how serious and sure you really are about your goals.

The truth is, before having the fun you seek, there’s preparation to be made.

First, you need to spring clean and air out your life. The cleaner your path, the fresher your new beginning, Too many of us are not willing to take the effort to clear out what holds us back. Some fear loosing what we have in storage, not realizing that it is this very baggage that weighs us down both emotionally and physically. We subconsciously block our own paths by raising mental barriers of why it cannot be done. We give in to the noises in our heads and from external parties and doubt ourselves because it is easier then challenging them.

If the idea of change scares you too much, don’t throw it out just yet. Incubate it. Place it on a shelf. File it away. It may illuminate again one day, and you may be that much stronger to take on that new challenge.

Turning points are action points that push us forward. Embracing them means change. It can be both scary and exciting. It rushes the blood of risk-takers and connects them to others. It brings the low risk takers out of their cocoons to act and create.

Healthy, growing and successful individuals have all sorts of people in their lives. They understand that one point of view is but a flat screen. Two adds on a little dimension. Now imagine, 10, 100, 1000 or a million points of views. A view so holistic and whole that you’re filled with the fullest image life can bring.

Friends and perceived enemies give us new perspective. With a broader perspective, we find a more balanced view. With a balanced view, light and clarity sets in, and we start to understand why things are. When we start to understand, we gain the knowledge and wisdom to help ourselves and others succeed.