Creating the Life you Want

The best adventure you can experience is to live a life specifically tailored to you. The most courageous thing you can do is dive deep within yourself to figure out what you love, and then dare to experience it. The 21^st-century adventurer is no longer someone who travels around the world, but rather someone who looks inside themselves and creates a life that reflects them. But why is it so hard to simply be ourselves and own up to our desires?

Sometimes, a little voice whispers in your ear: it might try to convince you that have nothing special to accomplish, no particular dream to fulfill at the moment. But that often turns out to be false, and it’s important to try not to listen to the negative things that little voice says. The fear of feeling fulfilled often hides a sense of unease at the idea of shining too bright, or being too talented, radiant and wonderful; the fear of being too successful if you were to be yourself. None other than Nelson Mandela reminded us of this:

Beyond the fear of being so wonderful, there is sometimes also a feeling of powerlessness at not knowing where to start—the road can be long! But like every path, the only way to walk it is by putting one foot in front of the other. That’s how I’d like to help you with this article: I want to teach you how to make tweaks to your daily life that will change a lot of things for you. It’s about reconnecting with yourself and being bold.

The beginning of any adventure starts with an inner journey. For your adventure to reflect you, it’s important, first and foremost, to get back in touch with yourself.

When you take time for yourself, in full consciousness and in silence, it promotes reconnecting with what is most vibrant within, in a conscious and confident way. This allows you to check in with your emotions and feelings. By facing them in full consciousness, you set aside the idea of fleeing from your inner world, rather seeing it as an ally which can give you information about who you are, what you like and what you don’t, your desires, dreams, and more.

Meditation can be a great help. It is the best shortcut I know for reconnecting with yourself and getting to know yourself in full consciousness. It helps build the confidence we all need in action, and promotes creativity in terms of the next steps needed to move toward your personal dreams.

Meditation also helps you see yourself differently, in a softer light, and without judgement. Little by little, the voice that never thought you were “enough”, or maybe sometimes “too much”, will fade out and be replaced with a compassionate and discerning attitude toward yourself: the starting point to achieving big things.

If you wish to learn, relearn, or work on this aspect, Le Monastère des Augustines has two meditation workshops planned this fall.

Taking a moment of silence to get to know yourself is only a starting point. The adventure really starts when you put energy into making concrete changes, and start moving toward what you desire! I believe it should scare you a little—or it isn’t truly an adventure. If it were simple, we’d all have already done it!

Dipping a toe timidly into a lake isn’t the same as diving in. When you hesitate, you still have ways of going backward; if you’re not diving in, you’re not fully invested in the adventure—you’re simply sticking to your comfort zone. As Goethe put it:

I recommend inviting another way of being into your life: dare to be bold enough for magic to appear. By being bold over and over again, I am convinced you’ll succeed in expanding your comfort zone.

To maintain this boldness, I suggest taking something on, a personal project, for example, that scares you, or that you’ve been dreading. Even if it doesn’t necessarily have to do with your project yet, take a step in an unknown direction to start getting used to the uneasiness you feel when venturing outside your comfort zone. By taking small steps regularly toward the unknown, if Goethe’s maxim is true, I’m convinced you’ll start seeing positive changes in your life, almost magically!

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So, what is the project you’ve been toying with, but haven’t dared to make a reality yet? Whether it’s a career change, trying an activity you’ve always been interested in, approaching someone you admire, giving a conference on a topic you are passionate about, or even taking up a new sport… start moving toward your dreams now!

[1] Editor’s note: This quote seem to be written by W. H. Murray. The link with Goethe was lost in a complex translation process.