Monday, December 31, 2012

Making Space

The packing for my move out of my lovely home in Williams Lake, BC and to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has commenced.  And with packing comes purging.  I've moved A LOT in my lifetime.  Fifteen times in the last 14 years to be exact.  This time I'm noticing myself doing the most purging that I've ever done.  Sofa and loveseat, gone.  Dressers and shelves, gone.  Dresses, shoes, pants, sweaters, coats, gone.  Books, reports, files, gone.   

the epitome of packing and purging


And, with today being New Years Eve I'm finding myself reflecting on this past year and noticing that I also did a lot of purging in and around my life in general.  It essentially stemmed from a new perspective I took after reading a blog entry by one of my favourite inspirational business women, Danielle LaPorte.  She wrote about The Divine Law of the Ugly Chair which, in a nutshell, is about the idea of getting rid of the old (i.e. an ugly chair) and making way for the new.  She talks about how, "letting go makes way for something closer to your truth…which is always more beautiful. Always.  Making space signals the universe that you’re ready for ideal…or at the very least, much improved.  Making space expands your being and clarifies (and dare I say, actually minimizes) your needs.  The Divine Law of the Ugly Chair applies as much to furniture and stuff as it does to lovers, jobs, and thought forms.  Because: Going without, and holding out, is much better than selling out. Always."

One of my biggest and most painful purges this year was my decision to leave the world of horses for a while.  My beautiful and amazing horse, Sky, was diagnosed with Navicular Syndrome and so I decided it was in her best interest to stop training and competing with her.  It was the catalyst to me deciding that it was time for me to move away from my commitment to expanding my skills in horseback riding and turn towards other dreams, such as traveling and experiencing life beyond the world in which I was currently living.  It was an extremely hard decision to make as I have been completely immersed in horses in some form or another since I was a child.  I had been married to the sport of horseback riding.

Sky at her finest


 My gut was telling me it was time to divorce myself from that world, if only for a little while, in order to allow myself the space and time to experience other things that this lovely life of mine could offer.  So, what happened as a result?  I started biking, A LOT.  And with biking came new and amazingly wonderful friends, travel to new places with new and challenging biking trails, and a chance to recognize that I can grow in ways (both mentally and physically) that I never imagined possible.  But biking wasn't the only thing that leaving the horse-world for a while has done for me.  If I had still been committed to riding horses like I was before Sky was diagnosed with Navicular Syndrome I can guarantee that I never would have applied for the job in Saudi Arabia.  Taking away the drive and ambition I had to ride and compete with horses here in BC opened up my life to the possibility of leaving and testing the waters of international living.

At the top of Two Sisters Mtn.; one of many biking adventures with amazing friends.


I can also guarantee that I wouldn't have applied for work in Saudi Arabia if I hadn't have purged my habits and ways of doing things.  Danielle LaPorte had a part to play in that area as well.  She wrote about "a testimony to your future" and it spoke to me.  She said, "Usually we want to do more of what got us to where we are. There is safety in repetition. Familiarity, best practices, proven techniques."  This was so true of me.  I had gotten pretty darn far in my life by being structured and disciplined and, essentially playing the role of the Type A personality.  It was time for me to let go of that and experiment with a different way of being.  As Danielle said, "I think the Bright Future craves more daring from us."  For the sake of my desire to see what else is possible for me, I purged structure and discipline and the need to control.  So, what happened as a result?  I learned what it meant to flow with life, I learned to trust that all things work out in the end and that everything that happens has a reason, and it's always a positive one when it's all said and done.  I saw that, when I let go of trying to control where my life is heading, new and amazing opportunities that I could never have imagined happening to me come along and embrace me.  Just look at this new life in Saudi Arabia that I'm heading to.  There is no way that I EVER would have put something like this on my "bucket list".  Who needs a bucket list when life brings to me any number of experiences that I never would have thought possible?  And beyond that, if I was living my life the way I had in the past would I have actually even sent my CV to the family in KSA?  It's highly doubtful.  Jumping into a world of unknown is not what a controlling person with a Type A personality does.  By embracing the flow of life and recognizing the positive things that happen when I trust life to bring me what I need the most, I've given myself the ability to leap with the knowledge that the net, most certainly, will appear.



I think that, with all the ugly chairs I got rid of this year, I made space for SO MANY amazing things. Biking, new friends, experiencing parts of British Columbia that only a select few people venture out to see, new outlooks and perspectives on life and how to live it, and of course this amazing opportunity to work and expand my career and my experiences while living in Saudi Arabia.


In Joy,
Bonnie

What Boat Do You Need To Burn?  A Testimony to Your Future

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