Resilience in Transitions: 7 Questions for Introspection, 7 Truths for Well-Being
On homecoming, emotional complexity and embracing unpredictability.
As you read or listen to* this, I am setting on my journey to my first and forever-home, my favourite city, Sofia.
Having lived abroad for nearly a decade now, I find both going home and leaving home bittersweet.
My body agrees with my mind on that tug-of-war.
As much as I try to not stress about the journey, to patiently practice and re-affirm my boundaries for my family, to craftly predict tense situations (and prepare for them) and to purposefully measure my time, I find myself falling short more often than not.
I love my home deeply, but I still struggle with all that my short return brings.
I love where I am, but I still struggle to come back to it. It is not my home home.
A familiar blend of emotions is stirred within me every single time.
As much as the following words serve as a letter to myself, I hope they find a spot within you that needs to be filled.
I hope they offer you a new perspective of the comforting reassurance you did not know you needed.
*when I said “listen”, I really meant it.
FOR MY SAKE!: THE PODCAST is a fact that I am so excited to share!
The 7 Questions You Need To Keep
The coolest thing about questions is that there may be no immediate answer.
The second coolest thing about questions is that there may be more than one answer.
Talk about a lesson on patience and self-compassion, right?
We think critically.
We think outside-of-the box.
We inquire.
We search instead of being given.
We are uncertain and cool with that.
We break down and build up.
We feel.
I have never been given a task at school that says:
Your way to clarity is lack of it.
and I feel like that is a missed opportunity, since I would have been great at it.
This is your task.
If you live exactly the way you lived over the last 2 weeks, for the rest of your life, where would you end up? Would you harbor any regrets?
Is there an unexpressed part within you or an unexplored-but-so-wished-for pursuit outside of you that you are surpressing or you have sidelined because of the opinion of others? Will that be a regret in 30 years time? Is it worth it?
If tomorrow was your last day, is there anything you would regret not saying? Who is the person you would have wanted to say this to? When will you say it?
What is genuinly important to you regarding the limited time we have on this blue marble called Earth? Are you living, prioritizing this core value?
In the last 30 days, how much time did you spend with people that you actually love and care about? How can you make these moments count?
Is there anything that you are shying away from due to a fear of failure?
Beyond a name, a role or a status, who are you? Use your values to answer.
The 7 Truths You Need To Keep
Traditionally, we are taught that when there is a question, there must be an answer.
In fact, a question demands an answer.
Nevertheless, the questions that were just posed to you encourage a different approach altogether:
to embrace the possibility of no answer
or the possibility of multiple answers.
and to acknowledge and accept that, in their core, these questions don’t need an answer, but they need you to be honest. Honest with yourself.
My most honest thoughts for you today are:
You teach people how to treat you by what you tolerate and accept. Your needs are valid: you are never asking for too much or for the wrong thing. You are just asking the wrong people.
Rejection is redirection. Better things are coming. Trust in synchronicity.
Here and Now are worth being alive for. Not someday when you have X or when Y comes true. No circumstances will ever be “ideal”.
The only limitations in your life are those that you have imposed on yourself mentally. Release these self-imposed constraints.
Work on your goals lowkey and share your progress selectively, only with people who treasure the delicate energy you invest in yourself, your goals and your growth.
Prepare to wholeheartedly meet and allow the space for the experience that you wait for, work for and deserve.
When you let go of the old, you tell the universe “I am ready for the new”.
What is homecoming?
the act of returning to one’s place of residence or origin, typically after a period of absence.
often imbued with feelings of familiarity.
a journey inward, involving introspection and reconnection with one’s true essense or authentic self; a return to one’s core values, beliefs and identity.
From my dictionary to yours,
Katrin