Reinventing Yourself

By Bob Cox

Over the years, I’ve seen a number of people who are miserable with their current life situation but unwilling to change it for a variety of reasons. Some go on to explain how much time and energy they’ve invested into either their personal or professional lives and therefore are compelled to continue to do what they’ve always done to the bitter end.

I happen to believe that we can change anything and everything about our lifestyles, but the change has to begin with ourselves. If there is a specific aspect of our personality we do not like, we have the power to replace that unwanted and negative character trait with a positive one. My wife Diana wholeheartedly agrees and her reasons are based on a monumental shift in her life around the age of 40.

A few years before Diana and I met, she was experiencing the most difficult time of her life. Her jewelry sales business was hit hard by the terrible recession of the early 1990’s and her husband had suffered a stroke caused by complications from diabetes. At the time of his stroke, he was the family’s primary wage earner, so not only was his income wiped away, Diana spent the next several months juggling the relentless responsibilities of being the family’s sole bread winner while providing constant care for her husband.

Just when she thought things couldn’t get any worse, they did. The daily stress was so relentless and overwhelming, Diana began to experience chronic and debilitating migraine headaches, headaches so severe that she would spend several hours and sometimes days trapped in a dark room of absolute silence. Diana tried a variety of treatments, remedies and medications, but nothing seemed to help. Diana felt completely powerless to change her life and it was slowly killing her.

Then one day a friend recommended massage therapy. Although she was very skeptical, Diana gave it a try. After the first session, she was amazed and delighted by the powerful results that delivered lasting and immediate relief. Diana was so impressed; she decided to make a 180 degree turn in her life by going for a brand new career as a massage therapist.

For the next several months, Diana felt completely rejuvenated. She managed to add massage school at night to her long list of responsibilities. Tragically, just 10 days before she graduated, her husband passed away. Diana instinctively knew that she needed to put the shock and grief of his death behind her as quickly as possible in order to give herself a glimmer of hope for a brighter future.

Shortly thereafter, she poured all of her energy into building up her massage business and the rewards and satisfaction she got from helping ease the physical and emotional pain of her clients was profound and life changing. Over the years, many of her clients became cherished friends and one was fortunate enough to become her husband!

If there’s something in your life that’s not working for you, you owe it to yourself and the people you love to take a leap of faith and try something new. With the dawn of a new year upon us, now is a great time to wipe the slate clean and begin a fresh new adventure. A great place to start is by asking this question: What’s the most important thing I want to achieve this year? Once you get the answer, challenge any self-limiting beliefs about who you truly are and any doubts about your ability to make the necessary changes needed to align yourself with your hearts desires. You can do it, so go for it!