Hand up who honestly enjoys the notion of being “uncomfortable”?  Like me, I’d imagine many of us would prefer the safety and familiarity of our comfort zone, decked out with your favourite drapes and snug sofa chair, where the world is but a place of static “sameness”, as opposed to diving head first into the great unknown.  But no more!  Because I have stumbled across a saying so powerfully apt that I have vowed to make it my mantra for the year ahead:

“The more willing I am to be uncomfortable, the more I find myself growing, accomplishing and transforming… The less willing I am to be uncomfortable, the more stress, resignation and suffering I experience” Mike Robbins, (extracted from www.oprah.com) 

While I realise we are already more than half way through the first month of 2011, I believe its not too late to offer the above statement as my pledge for the year ahead.  If nothing else, the tragedies that have unfurled with ferocity this last week, with the devastation, death and destruction of the QLD flood crisis, along with the mummy blogging world mourning the untimely passing of the young husband of Lori from RRSAHM and, along with Lulu from Imperfect Life (a mere few days after we the unexpected death of her sister), have sent a fierce shockwave reverberating through me, subconsciously whispering to that I must resolve to do it all a little differently this decade.  Like precious crystal balanced precariously on this precipice we call everyday life, each morn I wake I become more and more aware how fragile it is, we are, and of the undeniable fact I am not living what Oprah would call “my best life”.

Don’t get me wrong, (I see the above claim needs qualifying!) I am happy!  I have such amazing blessings swirling through my world with a devoted, darling husband who is the anchor of calm in the tsunami of life, an adorable son who I cherish beyond words, and an enormously supportive network of family and friends.  We have our health, a roof over our heads, and an income to keep us sustained.  Never fear – I will not make like Elizabeth Gilbert and embark on an “Eat Pray Love” mecca of my own making!   

Instead, I simply want to start to look at the world through a reinvigorated, refreshed perspective.  In my personal life I plan to try my hardest to live with an open heart and stop letting life’s negativities poison their way into my streams of thought.  After all, as Oprah imparts “you become what you believe”.

On the work front, I hope to make some inroads into the eventual change of direction this part of my world will take.  This is not the career I dreamed for me, and although I take full responsibility for the choices that have been made along the way, and concur that while I do believe everything happens for a reason, it is not too late to take the road less travelled.  Change is long overdue in this dusty, long dormant corner of my world, even if will take quite some time to fully eventuate.

Here’s hoping that endless possibilities await the eager mind and enthusiastic soul.  Like the ultra exciting Aussie Mummy Blogger conference in March 2011 where I hope to learn how to spread my blog writing wings; or perhaps learn to stand up paddle board (even though I’m terrified of what might be lurking unseen in the ocean beneath).  Even just forcing myself to write more, or make a choice to re-enter the fray of study – although it will make me uncomfortable (not to mention even more time poor – or just poor full stop!) but, hey, that’s the whole point of this exercise!  I must make a conscious effort to defeat the lurking demons of failure and face the fact I’ll never get anywhere by ensconcing myself in the comfort of the known.

Whilst I have long waged a private war against my inability to finish most of what I start (classic Aries, anyone?), and suffer from an affliction that sees me paralysed at the mere thought of making a decision, I hope by posting this blog you will all be at liberty to hold me to task, should I (likely, at some stage) stray from this newly paved path of optimism.