Wonder leading to connection

 

There's that story of your life that goes unseen sometimes.

Bits and pieces of you that are as important part of who you really are, yet still invisible, mostly.

When you start searching for the patterns your life has followed over and over, it is trying to tell you something important.

Yet the things you believe to be true about yourself may push that evidence into invisibility.

The strength you're showing when someone needs your help, what is it called?

How many times have you find yourself helping someone in that same way?

And at the same time, what have you been telling yourself about it.

"I'm just doing this, because they need me!"

"This is not really me, but I can help if I am being needed."

I started realizing this very pattern in my own life.

Yet my narrative was that I coincidentally always ended up helping others in the same area, because someone else needed me to.

And that I didn't choose it or I didn't want to do it in the first place.

But it was a place of service for me.

And yet it occured time after time, in all different setups imaginable.

In different social settings.

The history repeated itself: things changed, someone needed help in this very area, they asked me, I decided to help.

That one random night, when the lights turned on for me, was deeply emotional.

I saw a glimpse of myself as the person with no broken layers, no hiding, just mere courage of existing as I am and the joy of being me.

And there it was again, that same theme, that had followed me over and over again.

Yet now I saw it as part of who I actually am.

And it didn't matter how it happened, what were the things that changed and I was being asked help in that very area.

I always said yes.

Even though my story was "I don't really want this."

So why did I say yes?

Was it me being curious to see if this was actually part of who I am?

Or was it just pure willingness to lend a hand when it was needed?

This whole process is so meaningful to me now, as I am getting to know myself more.

And that's also why I wanted to share these thoughts with you.

Is there that red line in your life ongoing, that the very same thing is being handed at you over and over again?

Do you find yourself serving in some way, time after time?

While you're also telling yourself a story "this is actually not really me, I'm just here to help."

I encourage you to take a closer look at those pattern like turns taking place in your journey.

Is there something they are trying to tell you about yourself?

Is there a hidden strength in you that you won't acknowledge out loud?

What if you don't know yet the full scale of your strengths, gifts and abilities, until you embrace the unknown.

Your own stories about yourself might not be the whole picture of you. 

You tapping into a hidden strength can start as a pattern that is there to reveal all that you have to give.

There's more in you, than you even know yourself.

And it's worth searching to connect with all of those layers of you.

Someone will have a life altering impact in their life, because you said yes to you exploring you.

And it led you to serve them from that place of getting to know each part of you.

Being okay with not knowing all the layers yet.

And showing up as the one who seeks deep connection with themselves.

Even when it feels scary.

When it takes you to do the things you always thought were the scariest in life.

Hugs,

Pia

The raw in-between

I'm in a moment when after a few weeks all these things happen.

My part of the work here ends.

We pack all our family's bags, 8 luggage + 4 carry-ons.

We'll move our family from now warming and hot Uruguay in the South American continent to Finland, the Winter land of Europe 😄.

I start in a new role.

We set up a new home.

I am making a plan of what it will look like.

Only furniture we own at the moment is a single old chair I got from my grandma's wardrobe.

Kids change schools and the main language of studies, while also starting to travel on their own to school after four and half years of me driving them there.

We have our long to-do-list with my husband, each doing bits and pieces here and there to get it all done.

In the meantime, a season is coming to an end and it's emotional.

If you ever feel like the in-between time is hard, the following thoughts are for you.

The way you funnel your energy in the in-between, has a profound impact.

The way you frame the change can paint it with deep pain or give deep meaning to even the most horrifying changes.

The in-between is exhausting.

Let's not pretend it is not.

It drains you both physically and emotionally.

Yet when you hold yourself with grace, it can look like this.

You are okay with the many sloppy things you now do, laugh at your own headless actions and remember to enjoy every moment.

It is gold.

Now is a time when you can see what is really important.

If you choose to.

Big things are coming to an end and the small beginnings are at hand.

You starting over can be a beautiful or devastating thought.

What if this time is like a beautiful white table in front of you where you can lay a new sheet of paper to design something you haven't yet experienced.

What if it's a season where you get to discover something new about yourself you didn't think was in you.

Do this one thing.

Guard your energy.

And with this I don't mean that you lie in bed or sofa every day until the in-between is over.

If you're capable of doing things, it helps you to be in action than to lie down stressing about what you haven't done.

Choose the main things to pour into and then say firm NO to the other beautiful, good and tempting things offered your way.

And give yourself a ton of credit for all that you do in the in-between.

This is a one of a kind time to learn the real priority of things.

Use it well and cherish every moment.

Hugs,

Pia

The peak and the valley of your growth journey

When I decided to go all in with my growth journey, what I was envisioning was this.

The glorious mountain peaks where I could climb to reach a beautiful observatory.

From there I could see my life and life's work more clearly.

Peak moments feel deeply satisfying, but are a slippery foundation as they only last so long.

I envisioned the beautiful path filled with wildflowers and sunny cliffs around me, as I traveled.

I thought mostly about the comfortable parts of the path.

Yet sunny days come and go and my growth needs the rainy days too.

What I now see as equally important, is different.

If our growth journey would be a constant happy path, what would it assure us?

That when it gets tough and it rains cats and dogs for days, we're not doing the right thing, right?

Wouldn't it be so intriguing to label some parts of our growth journey with the following labels?

Nice & easy, a.ka. worth doing, and sweaty & difficult, a.ka. waste of time.

When I said yes to running my own business I first thought I could choose just the comfortable parts of it.

But avoiding the things that really bring growth took me to a cycle of work without seeing the real fruit.

And that's equally uncomfortable.

What I learned was how surrendering to the hard parts of our growth journey can do to you and me.

How it shakes us and forms us with new strength we didn't know we could possess.

What is the hard you're choosing today?

Can you see how it takes you where you want to go?

Hugs,

Pia

When tired waves crash

I remember those nights after 2 am.

Outside on the fields only the stars simmered a little.

Everything else was being wrapped with a dark velvet blanket of the night.

Our home was pitch dark. 

Only my computer was shining little light to the surroundings.

I thought I was being efficient as my thoughts were more clear while everyone else was asleep.

But the next day I could feel the cost.

The feeling of drain after not sleeping properly made me feel like a zombie.

It's amazing how sleep affects us.

Or not having a proper good night's sleep.

You gradually realize it when you don't have it.

Your mind gets easily full of negative thoughts like clouds that dim your mind.

And it's harder to choose good thoughts.

Like there was no sun behind those clouds.

For the past few last night's I have spent  less time sleeping, with major reasons for kids being sick.

And the week being too full of special things, my mind not being able to shut off.

And now I am in this with you, I feel the drain.

As I did my morning routine, mindwork, I really realized how much harder it is to choose the good thoughts when tired.

So, let's do this one thing.

Let's prioritize sleep once again.

Trying that nine o'clock bedtime.

Putting away our phone a few hours before bed.

And let's see how normal and how great we actually feel again.

Hugs,

Pia

The hard part of the path is for you

Have you been aching for the pain of the journey, when it gets hard?

Feeling lonely, like all the worries in the world were pulled on to your shoulders.

You find yourself doubting all the progress you've seen yourself make.

It all feels so vain.

Like you were back to ground zero and nothing changed.

Here's the beauty in that moment.

It exposes your true fear.

And why is that so beautiful, you might ask, even feeling a little offended.

It's because it's such a powerful mirror.

When you truly face your fear, ugly and raw, you get to really know your power.

You know what you're up again to.

You can learn what makes you truly weak and what makes you strong.

I often think of it this way.

"So if this is what my truest fear looks like, what is the opposite spirit for it?"

And finding an answer to my question over time always takes me to another level in my growth.

Starting to act from the opposite spirit sets me loose to build up my identity in that specific area where I feel deeply vulnerable.

While I was in NYC fashion week a decade ago dressing up models, I was exposed to one of my greatest fears.

Coming from a poor childhood background the stigma never left me, until that week.

I was able to start healing as I knew where the wound was.

Dressing up to your new identity takes the undressing of the old rags as part of it.

When you now are face to face that hard part of your current journey, can you see the beauty in the hard?

How it's helping you to grow stronger and to heal.

There are such good, beautiful things coming your way, it's worth the growth pain.

Hugs,

Pia