Think of your life like a huge mansion. The west wing represents your childhood; the east wing, your adolescence. There is a wing that represents your young adulthood, and one that holds the memories of your more recent adulthood.
There is probably a section of this home that reflects back on your pre married days as well as each child as they came into your life. And of course there is the area that represents the courtship with your honey, as well as the most recent years leading up to now. I’m sure you get the picture by now.
I bet if asked which rooms you spend the most time in they would be the rooms that are bright, have lots of windows, beautiful pictures and comfy furniture. These rooms represent the times in your life that you enjoy re-visiting. The memories that make you smile, laugh and look back on with fond recollection.
Now consider the rooms you have forgotten about. The rooms that at some point during your life you closed the door, locked it, and perhaps even boarded it up. These are the times in your life that have caused you pain, discomfort, disappointment and distress. The times you decided you never wanted to think about again and would just as soon erase them all together.
Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way!
Some of us have entire wings with rooms like these. For some, the basement has been the designated space for these forgotten moments in time. If you were to re-visit these rooms they would probably be covered with cobwebs, inches of dust, broken windows and they would be very, very dark.
It is these rooms however, that often call to us while we are stepping into our lives in a BIG way. When we make the decision to take back control and begin to live a more purpose driven life, we are lured back to these places because we have come to the time in our lives where we need to heal whatever happened to cause us to lock that door in the first place.
So often when a new client starts with me, she is taken back by all the gremlins and demons that come out of the woodwork as a result of her commitment to step it up in her business and her life.
It is this willingness to PLAY BIG that actually gives these old gremlins permission to show themselves. As you declare you readiness to Stretch Beyond Your Comfort Zone, your “old stuff” says “OK Darlin’, let’s see how uncomfortable you are willing to get!”
Your Personal Development Assignment
Go Exploring!
As you Stretch Beyond Your Comfort Zone and you become more aware of the rooms that are calling to you, that you haven’t visited in a while, get curious. For starters, just take a look at the sign on the door.
For example, if you’ve been avoiding public speaking and you know it has something to do with a bad experience on stage back in high school, consider slowing down long enough to envision that part of “your house” and as you enter it, approach the room where the memory from high school is, and look at the sign on the door. What does is read?
How do you FEEL as you look at the door?
Are you nervous? Anxious? Scared?
Envision yourself unlocking and opening the door . . .
What does the room look like inside?
What is the temperature?
Is it dark or bright?
Are there other people in this room?
Give yourself the opportunity to see this room (this experience from your past) as you are NOW. As the woman you have become.
What’s do you know now that you didn’t know then?
What’s different for you now?
As you look back on that experience, what did you learn from it that can add value to your current experience?
Visiting these rooms in our lives is a necessary part of the process as we grow and develop our relationship with ourselves AND it gives us the opportunity to heal old wounds. It is in the healing of these old wounds that allows us to continue moving forwarding and play FULL OUT.
Imagine walking out of each room with confidence and satisfaction that you are stronger and wiser for having had that experience.
Now which room is next?
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Aimee Yawnick has been mentoring women to make personal growth and development a priority for over 15 years. First, in the Health and Fitness Industry, now as a Personal Life Coach. With proven tools and systems Aimee helps her clients move swiftly and smoothly from a life of just ging through the motions and merely existing to being an active participant and living life to the fullest!
If you are a highly motivated and results-oriented woman who understands the value of developing your SELF, and you are ready to accelerate your personal growth in order to play a BIGGER GAME in your personal and professional life, contact Aimee today.