Do you believe in signs? I never used to, but I do now.
I think things changed when I started to listen to what many call their “gut instinct” or “following your heart”. I would feel this panicky need to do something, or a pang of jealousy over someone’s accomplishment, or start seeing the same word over and over and I would often ignore it. Finally, I met someone who taught me to believe in and follow these signs. He was basically a self-obsessed person that used to think of following his bliss, regardless of who he was hurting along his journey ……. but he did teach me some valuable lessons. I guess that first lesson was, “Follow your heart as long as it doesn’t harm another”, which he taught just by being a bad example of that rule.
Once, when I was living in Vancouver, I started to feel like a square peg in a round hole. I had great friends but no money and just wasn’t enjoying being there anymore. I didn’t like the general vibe on the major shopping streets and I didn’t care about being by the water anymore. I felt drained and empty. But….it had always been such a big dream of mine to live in Vancouver- ever since I was a little girl- so I stayed. I started to feel this little fluttery feeling in the pit of my stomach every morning and it would grow to full-fledged panicking butterflies by nightfall. I began to feel claustrophobic in my life as a whole. When an opportunity was presented to leave, I jumped at the chance, taking it as a sign. I had to break my lease and leave some friends behind quite suddenly, but the minute the opportunity to move to Calgary was presented, that panicky fluttering butterfly feeling at the pit of my stomach left, so I knew I was making a good decision for myself at the time. In the end, moving to Calgary is why I met my husband, so it was worth following the signs and let fate take its course.
Now when I feel a fluttery panicked feeling, I don’t ignore it. I sit in a quiet room and think back to when I started having that feeling. Was it an assumption of a missed opportunity? When did it start and what was I doing? Oftentimes, I will find I missed a sign, that something in my life needs an overhaul, or just a finalized decision.
A couple of years ago, I started to feel jealous of anyone that created their own business. I thought, “I could do that!” and would walk around with my head on fire in a fit of ‘it’s not fair’. Everything changed for me when I changed my thought to, “Why am I not doing that?” and started to research the how and why of following my dreams.
If I am jealous of someone’s accomplishment, is it because I want to be creating more of my own opportunities? The answer is yes 99% of the time. I now spend less of my time being jealous and try to immediately turn that jealousy into action. I get started researching or making or learning instead!
Right now, I have been hearing that ever popular concept “vision board” over and over again. In the past week, I have seen it on TV in a fictional program, on a morning show, and in two different movies. That’s 4 times in 5 days. I used to be interested in vision boards but, a couple of years ago, I decided to dismiss them as silly, self-absorbed, wastes of my time that only modern spaced-out hippie types would bother with. (Yes, I was ignoring my pretty rad boho-hippie naturalist part of myself). But when I research finding my passion and pulling my life in the direction I have recently decided to go, all I see and hear is the word “vision board”. Topping that off with the fact that all the TV shows and media seem to be screaming “start a vision board!” at me and I am going to take it as a sign.
As of yet, I haven’t started one. I am not a jump in kind of a girl. I am researching the prettiest ways to make one, or alternatives to “cluttering up” my wall with one, since I am pretty happy with the amount of artwork I have up at the moment and don’t want to add more stuff to the mix.
I’ll let you know if I start one, how it goes, and if I feel like it makes a difference in the long-term. Debbie Travis swears by them:
Debbie Travis talks vision boards on the Marilyn Denis show.
While I figure out how to make one for myself, here are some links to vision board ideas:
Good Pinterest Start: https://www.pinterest.ca/ChicHulaGirl/vision-boards/
- https://theanastasiaco.com/diy-inspiration-mood-board/
- http://www.betterafter.net/2013/02/im-totally-pinning-this.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+BetterAfter+(Better+After)
- https://www.instagram.com/p/BO36Tq6B4NS/
- http://www.gurl.com/2016/08/03/creative-ideas-on-how-to-make-a-vision-board-tips-tutorial/
- http://abubblylife.com/2015/09/diy-geometric-organization-inspiration.html/
Sound Off:
Have you ever made a vision board? How did it go?
What’s your best motivational technique?
Do you believe in following signs or gut instinct?
Please comment below! I would love to hear from you.
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