By Peggy Kitsoulis
I don’t know about you, but I never liked the word “crisis”. “Mid-life crisis”, “identity crisis”, “career crisis”, let alone a “fashion crisis”. I spent most of my life hoping I would be one of the lucky ones and avoid ever having to go through a severe crisis in my life. At 39, I realized that it had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with this journey we call life.
I was coming out of another failed long term relationship, transitioning into my third career change into a corporate sales job I hated, and suffering from chronic health issues from all the stressors in my life.
When your world is turned upside down, and you don’t know which side is up, you have no choice but to get out the magnifying glass and re-examine everything. Looking back over the past 5 years, I no longer view crisis as a negative. For me it was a blessing in disguise, a wake up call that I was not living a life that was true to me.
What if a personal crisis is actually a good for you? A time to really reflect on what matters most to you? An opportunity to peel away the layers of falseness and discover your authentic self? A chance to clean house emotionally & spiritually?
4 Ways A Crisis Can Be a Blessing:
1) It helps you practice the art of surrendering and letting go. When you are use to always having your shit together and one day you wake up wondering: Who am I really? How did I get to this point? WTF am I going to do next? Most of us want to step into the safety of certainty and knowing all the answers at once. This is where surrendering and faith comes into the picture. As Glennon Doyle Melton says in Love Warrior, “What you don’t know, you’re not supposed to know yet. More will be revealed in time.”
2) You reconnect with your truth. The word crisis originates from the word meaning to sift. Think about that for a minute. It’s like panning for gold or for shells at the beach. All of the debris and falseness falls away and you are left with your treasures and nuggets of truth. In times of crisis, you get to re-examine your priorities, your values, whom and what truly matters to you in your heart. From this clarity, you are able to live a life that is true to you, not anybody else.
3) You open up the door to new opportunities. Crisis is all about changes and endings, which can be scary for most of us. As Bob Marley says, “ When one door is closed, don’t you know that many more are opened.” Instead of focusing your attention and time on the closed door, open your mind to the endless possibilities that lie ahead for you when new doors are opened. It’s an opportunity to let go of everything and everyone that no longer serves you and open up space for unconditional love, fulfillment and inner peace in your life.
4) You discover your inner warrior. It takes strength and courage to make it through difficult times. One of the greatest lessons you learn from a personal crisis is that you are your own hero, your own healer, and your own warrior. You do not need to be fixed, completed or changed. Believe that your courage, your love, your truth, and your light shine brighter than the darkness that surrounds you.
If you are in the midst of a crisis and feeling overwhelmed by your situation, you don’t have to figure out all the answers right now. Step back, breathe and take baby steps. Open your mind and your heart to new possibilities. Keep moving forward knowing that after the dust settles you will be left with the priceless nuggets of wisdom you need to help you ignite your light and follow your own path to happiness.
Join Peggy as she co-leads her Soulful Surrender Retreat March 6-11 at Alaya Tulum. Email Inquiry@LifeSourceRetreats.com or click here.