Shaping Your Perspective on Change

Shaping your Perspective on Change

I am ready…Things are not as they appear. Change is in the fall air again in my life and I find myself pausing…

I am determined to accept this change for what it is.  Knowing in my heart it is time to re-group and re-focus.  To roll with this change by understanding and feeling the emotions and noticing the thoughts and the feelings that go along with it, without judgement. 

I have not always handled change very well... 

My whole life has been wrapped up in the physical.  Gym was my favorite class in elementary school it was a place where I was comfortable and successful…for a while anyway…

But, as I moved from elementary school to high school though I encountered others who were much more skilled than I, and was forced into a “uniform” where my identity was thrown.  I now hated gym.  Hated my body, and was no longer comfortable in the only place where I felt confident.  A harsh change in my identity.  Who was I?  

It was here when I decided to take control of the one thing I knew how to...my body.  I would diet, exercise and isolate from others. I found control and comfort in my rules and rituals…Diet and exercise became my “go to” behavior.  I became very good at it too and because of this, I studied and spent over 30 years in what I thought was my life’s purpose; group exercise and fitness training. 

Change was in the fall air 2 years ago, when I decided to shift my vision, and I moved into a new amazing career working with women who struggle with their relationship with food, mind and/or body.  I thought I had found my dream job (as Program Director) at Green Mountain at Fox Run, only to realize…It was just a chapter in my story…

So here I am again, in the fall season, as the leaves turn bright red and orange, moving into a change in my life, moving into a new chapter.  

I am venturing into the arena of self-employment.  Counting on myself, and sharing my story.

From all the lessons I have learned, I am realizing that life is to be lived from the heart.  Passions are to be pursued, happiness is to be had.  Impact is to be made, knowledge is to be shared.   I no longer care about the outcome, I care about discovering, about new beginnings, about learning, even if I fail.  I am excited to try.

Enter this chapter, the one where our company Shaping Perspectives…A Woman’s Way to Joy! Has been formed. This is a place where there is support, care, knowledge, experience and coaching of women who are tired of fighting the war on weight, food and body.  If you would like to learn more or want to make a change, please check us out on our Facebook page or join us at one of our Women's Wellness Weekends...

I believe we move through life in a distinct order, at a precise time.  The people in our paths help support and guide us, and there are people who appear in our lives who we help and guide as well.  I recognize the changes I have made, the lessons I have learned and I feel love for my present chapter. 

Changes are a way of life, I wish you a smooth transition into your season of change.

Click here to pick up your free YOU ARE ENOUGH Finally, Free, Fit and Fabulous 5 step guide to peace with food, eating, weight and body image. 

Its My DEAL

Oh good!  At least I like to shuffle the cards, the way they make that fluttering sound and watch the bridge I have formed between my two hands collapse upon itself.  I think this might be the only part of playing cards I truly like.  The rest of the time I am feeling sick to my stomach, my shoulders are tight, my brain is in overdrive...repeating the words...Think, Anne, Think...Dont make the wrong move...

I have decided now to DEAL myself another hand.  This one is quite different.  It is calming...and feels more like the sunrise with the pinks and oranges in the sky...a warm summer breeze, and the sound of the ocean.  I am embarking on an adventure to my inside, my truest self.  To Discover, Embrace, Accept and Love me...My own D.E.A.L.

The first card in my hand?  Deep Discovery.  To actually take some time with myself.  The searching and unfolding of what is on the inside.  I have recently posted a picture on facebook of me at about 5.  I am standing on the front steps of my grandparents house in Greenfield MA. I am ready to take on the world, my hands are on my hips and I have a confident grin on my face.  There is true happiness, self assurance, pride and even a little mischievesness too. This is the Annie I am in search of.

Discovery may take some time...it takes time to deal out the cards, make sure everyone has the right amount, square off the piles, fan out the cards in your hand.  Realizing that there are some cards in your hand that you dont really want.  The cards like...my mini me, my fear of failure, my fear of success, the judgement of myself, the comparison to others.  Thank goodness there are some cards in my hand that I love...my family and friends!

There it is, my hand is full of all of it.  All of its beauty.  Time to discard.  The first to go is the judgement of myself and comparison to others.  I place the cards down, let them go watching them slowly get buried deeper into the deck.  My hand picks up 2 cards: Laughter and Love,  this game may work out well after all...

Feeling a little more confident, I discard Fear...Fear of Failure, as well as Fear of Success.  The guilt, the shame, the feeling of not being enough, not being deserving...It will be a hard fight to let them go.  They have been such a part of me for so long.  I am letting them go in hopes to pick up some better cards...I close my eyes, give powerful thought and attention to the deck as I pick up my next cards

Acceptance, Belief and Compassion....Looks like we have a straight!   ABC.  I have a loaded hand...ready to Embrace  the real me.  The one I see in that picture that shows determination and pride. The one that fights sociey telling me I can or I can't, I should or I shouldn't.  Accepting my true self without letting all my old stories and beliefs beat me down and take me out of the game.

I am playing until the end...win or lose, it does not matter.  All I need to do is continue to deal the cards, because I know I am strong enough to win no matter what.  I will discard the cards that no longer serve me, and pick up the ones that do, the ones of self-growth, self-discovery, self-acceptance and self-Love.

We are all born with a full deck(well, mostly!)  They are part of us, these cards make us who we are, yet that does not mean we have to keep all the cards we are dealt with.  We have choices to stack the deck in our favor.  Who's deal is it now?