how to improve your journey through life? learn!

The endless journey of learning about myself has been littered with so many revelations. Most of them are lightbulb moments of ‘whaaaaaaaat!!!’ whilst others are just like a sucker punch to the gut which both scenarios have left me in a state of flummox. My parents and their generation, most of them anyway, were not usually capable of asking themselves the when, where, why, what and how they ended up in the late stage of life. Sometimes the rigidity of their environment forced them to be that way, or they learned through experiences, both good and bad. And I am not suggesting that they are all like that, I am merely articulating my parents/grandparent’s story. I believe there are a plethora of experiences that have shaped them to be what they are.

During my sabbatical year of healing and learning about myself, I read, and I listened (actually more like consumed) numerous books, podcasts, scientific journal articles to improve my well-being in order to form a foundation for me to build upon. I took what resonated within my soul and went down a variety of rabbit holes and picked out what was relevant to me. I soaked up information that aligned with my core values and core beliefs and discarded the rest. Because lemme tell you…there is an information overload out there AND so much conflicting evidence/knowledge around the well-being topic. Albeit much of it has the same undertones and core ideas; it is up to you to cypher out what speaks to you and then implement within your life.

I wanted to share some stand out authors whose words have helped shape me to who I am today. I do want to say in advance, you can only take on board what they are suggesting if you are ready to hear it (in my personal experience). I must admit up front that some of the books which really spoke to me have been read more than once. Such is the impact their wisdom, professional advice, and personal experiences have had on me. I am outlining as well that much of my personal growth has been slow and steady and most of the time, I take many steps backwards before even inching forward. Such is the nature of burnout and grief.

By taking small continual footsteps to open yourself up and lovingly pull apart your very own soul, habits, thoughts, processes, and childhood experiences, you will eventually learn to forgive and love yourself. Sounds lame saying it out loud but really and truly; you simply cannot love wholeheartedly unless you love/accept yourself with total abandon. To accept your flaws, weaknesses, and ugliness along with your goodness and eligibility of being loved and accepted. And like any journey, it takes time. Which sucks. Honestly, we live in the twenty-first century, and you think we would have perfected a faster mode of transportation!! I know, I know, it’s not about the destination instead it’s about the journey. But sometimes, the journey is so frikkin difficult to even face for one minute more. And yes. It is eventually going to be ok. Not always how you expect it to be but how it is and accepting that is part of the healing journey.

Below are some book titles that I have found to be informative and part of my healing process.

The Origins of You by Vienna Pharaon

Face: One Square Foot of Skin by Justine Bateman

No Mud, No Lotus by Thich Nhat Hanh

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

The 6 Habits of Growth by Brendon Burchard

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

The Mind-Gut Connection by Emeran Mayer, MD

The Brain Fog Fix by Dr Mike Dow

It Didn’t Start with You by Mark Wolynn

Lost Connections by Johann Hari

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk