The Past Must Be Used As a Trampoline and Not As a Sofa

I read something the other day and it got me thinking about how we let our past impact our future. It wasn't long ago that I felt invincible and imagined myself living a long and happy life. That belief was shattered when I was diagnosed with cancer. I entered a very dark period in my life where I called all my previously firmly held beliefs into question. Perhaps I wasn't invincible after all! Perhaps I wasn't going to live a long and happy life!

I managed to get through the 8 months of treatment ok but at the end of it I was tired and broken. My faith in my world had all but collapsed. I felt as though I was trapped deep underground with no conceivable way out. I had no concept of a future and felt that any investment in a future for myself was pointless. I was intent on putting a memory book together for my daughters with 'lessons I had learned,' that I wanted to pass on to them because I didn't believe I would be here to pass it on to them in word and deed.

A few months after my treatment ended I had an opportunity to spend some time with a few people who asked me a few life changing questions and gave me the tools to dig my way out of this hole and use the experience of the challenge I faced to learn and grow.

I got to take a reality check of my life (which was a difficult experience at best) but with a starting point in sight I was able to set a destination and create a future for myself. With each challenge we face, we have a choice. We can sit down on the sofa of life and stagnate, or we can use that challenge as a trampoline to grow and mature and learn.

I have often said that getting ill was a blessing in disguise for me. I was able to take stock of my life and let go of so many beliefs that were keeping me playing small, like 'I'm not good enough', 'I'm better off on the sidelines than in the game'. Too scared to show myself in case the world collapsed around me. But that has changed.

If there is one thing I have learned from being ill, it's to live full out every day. Take every opportunity to shine and don't delay doing things because you may regret letting those opportunities slip by. Life is too short to be unhappy. Use your challenges as a trampoline to move your life to a bigger and better place.

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