This incredible journey I have been on, and am still making my way through, has not been a straightforward power walk, always forward. More like a thousand steps forward and then a hundred back. Having to stop occasionally to get my breath back.

A couple of conversations I had this week really brought that into focus, and it prompted me to have a good look at myself. One of those conversations was in the car with my daughter as we happened to be driving near her former school just as the students were pouring out at the end of the day.

As we drove past a particular group and joked about being spotted, she actually recognised them, eighteen months after last being in school. I asked her if she regretted not having that connection to a group and we had a really honest conversation about her struggles with anxiety and the loss of her school years, her future dreams of university – all those very clear plans she had once.

But the one thing that stood out was this sentence:

“But if I hadn’t had my breakdown, you probably wouldn’t have had your breakdown and you wouldn’t be here starting your own business as this new, enlightened you. You’d still be in a classroom teaching”

And a physical shiver of ‘what could have happened’ ran down through my body and in that moment I felt so grateful. Things definitely haven’t gone as planned but thank goodness for that.

It made me realise that those moments when I feel like I’m stopping to catch my breath because the journey is getting tough, they are the moments when I need to be showing the most gratitude. Thank you , thank you, thank you for this tough point of the journey, because it’s reminding me how far I’ve come, how far we’ve all come and how far we can go.

There have been times in the past few months where I have secretly, deep down inside wondered if this will all work. Outwardly I am full of positivity and calm, I do know that this is my purpose but we wouldn’t be human if we weren’t scared, in some part, by the unknown. But feeling the fear and doing it anyway is the sweet spot, it’s where we make the most progress and change.

So I am setting some core intentions which I will repeat to myself every day and consistently during the day. Other positive intentions will be made but these core intentions will remain.

– Feel fear, embrace the fear, thank the fear and continue.

– Trust this journey – my higher self and higher energy have got my best interests at heart.

– Be grateful for those pauses in the journey and see them as a chance to smile and appreciate the climb rather than curse the struggle.

For this insight I am grateful – see….once you start you can’t stop!

Thank you , thank you, thank you x