Welcome to another Fresh Start Monday, where we change the narrative…
Many of us grew up learning to look at situations as black or white, thinking it’s either this way or that way. We didn’t learn much about the ‘in betweens’, today I will call those shades of gray.
We learn of specific destinations and dream of them too. These are defined destinations with specific characteristics, the black and white. But how many of us actually live in these defined destinations, the way in which we learn or dream of them? Or are we in actuality living in a shade of gray… a place in between?
We also experience a variety of emotions, and we many times think that we ought to be experiencing them one at a time. Yet, we experience sadness with a touch of joy, joy mixed in with some fear and fear with trust, among others. And we struggle to find our emotion at the moment because we can’t fathom why we experience opposing emotions at once.
Maybe, just maybe, life is not as black and white as we like to think it is. Maybe our success in terms of us living out our purpose and the quality of life we experience, is based on our ability to navigate our shades of gray. Today, I postulate that life is all about shades of gray and not black and white as we think of it. What shall we do then?
Holding both truths in one seems daunting and unappealing, for it intimidates. It challenges our desire for the simple and clear cut, and it questions our dreams. Our ability to master our thought processes will prove to be key in navigating our shades of gray. To be able to identify our emotions and appropriate them. To appreciate that we are not where we want to be, as well as the importance of our journey.
How will we navigate the changes we experience despite how suddenly they come upon us? Will we run the race before us? How will we make the right decisions when we get to the crossroads? Will we be true to ourselves, even in the noise? All while living in shades of gray?
Having an action plan for these questions will prove beneficial especially in shades of gray, in our ‘place of in between’. We can start from the big thing of our purpose and break it down into bite sizes. And as we accomplish each bite, we get closer to our goal. Or, we could start small and build our momentum. The approach will be based on individual preferences and how much we actually know about our purpose. But what is of most importance is doing something every day that our future self will be thankful for, and doing it with dignity.
As we continue on our purpose journey, we will evolve into a self we probably never dreamed of. As we grow, we learn that our best is not definite, neither is it a finite destination to be arrived at. As we submit to our purpose, we will need to re-think, evaluate and retool. In doing this, we evolve into a best we never before thought of, even in our wildest dreams.
How then, shall we navigate our shades of gray? With an action plan, open-mindedness, dignity and some style.
Let us navigate our shades of gray and change our narrative…
