Let’s talk about the life that you’re creating. How often are you thinking about that? We tend to spend a lot of our time, energy, and efforts reacting to life and how it’s showing up in the circumstances versus creating our life.
Creating is what we used to do when we were kids. Remember that? All we did was sit and dream. We enjoyed ourselves, played, and thought about what you wanted to be when you grew up. Think about all of the big, giant things that you wanted to do and who you wanted to be. What did you want your life to look like? As we grew up, we lost that vibrance (and the knack!) for creating. I want to invite and encourage you to come back to being creators of our lives, and not just react to what’s happening around you. It’s the difference between surviving and thriving.
But First, What Do You BELIEVE You Can Create?
But when we do actually get back to it, one thing I’ve learned is that we slow ourselves down from what we actually want to create because we focus on what we believe we can create.
Photo by Prophsee Journals on Unsplash
One of our biggest challenges is that we let ourselves be limited by so much. Oftentimes, it’s because of our conditionings: we set goals based on what we believe we can do, which really limits us and our potential. That’s because so much of life has conditioned us to think about our future possibilities based on the circumstances and data points of the past. Stop and think about that for a minute...I, whether consciously or unconsciously, look at what’s already happened in my life (and the lives of others around me) as examples of what I can do in the future.
Now, really…what kind of sense does that make?
Ask yourself why you are looking to the past for what you can do in the future? That’s where we only think about what we can do based on what we’ve done before, or maybe a little bit more.
Trust me. That’s just way too small.
Answering “The Call”
There is so much more to you. There is so much more of your potential for what you are called to do. When we can let go of the “can do” that’s based on the past and really tap into the “Called To” which is based on the future and is yet unwritten, the world will start opening up. And when I say “called to”, I’m talking about tapping into your soul; tapping into that higher, deeper space. Tapping into what God has called you to do. Your soul's agreement for why you came here. Those bigger things, those passions, those joys that lights you up, that you dream about, and haven’t yet done or maybe started and not finished. That’s the calling! Those things that light you up when you tap into it. It’s the energy of your calling that comes through because it’s your soul’s yearning! That’s the stuff you were meant to bring into this world.
Are You Letting Circumstances Take Center Stage?
So often, we let ourselves get cut off from our calling. But when you allow it to start to come through, and when you allow that to be the basis for how you set your visions and goals…OMG! Stuff just starts reformulating!
Now you may say, “Yeah, that’s nice. I would love to be able to do that, but I got real life stuff that I’m dealing with right now.”
Here’s the thing about circumstances: even the big ones we face are blips and data points in our lifeline. It is not my intention to minimize what anyone is dealing with, of course. However, when we let the circumstances of a limited time frame overhaul how we’re writing, creating, and envisioning our future, it truly limits us. Sometimes you say, “I hear you, Zuri, but I gotta get through these circumstances. I have to solve this immediate problem.” I’m not saying forget about the problem, but maybe it’s time to ask yourself a different question. When we allow ourselves to actually expand into our calling, all sorts of different possibilities show up for solving what you’re dealing with now or shifting how you move through it. The Universe sends a myriad of answers when you ask a new question!
For example: I had a client who had a problem. She was so focused on the issue that it’s all she could see. Her words were, “I’m stuck. I’ve got a problem. I have Option A or Option B, and that’s all.” However, when we started coaching together, she was able to shift some of those conditions that forced her to stay myopically focused on those issues.
When she changed her language and shifted her focus, things opened up. It turned out the problem wasn’t a problem, and there was actually an Option C that she didn’t see before. She simply needed to expand into owning what she truly wanted and what she was truly called to do. When she stated, “Yes! I accept the calling of what I want to do,” everything shifted. Even the problem shifted and looked different. It was amazing how she was able to navigate that, and it shows how our outside existence will reformulate around our internal desire when we step into the vision of the calling.
Now, here’s the thing: we step in, start looking at the calling and creating based on the future of where we want to go. The truth is, it is scarier. There is no question about it. It’s the reason we look at what you can do and the data points of the past, because it’s safe and comfortable. It’s easy to look there because it feels like a nice, warm blanket. We can rest in that. You think, “At least I can guarantee that if I do A, then B will happen.” But guess what? When you jump over to your calling, you may not know what B looks like, but there’s gonna be a G, H, and I that’s happening too!
My Personal Journey
I really got clarity that my calling is to help Black women heal the wounds and release the blocks that slow us down, hold us back and keep us from stepping into the greatness of who we really are so we can bring our gifts into the world. When I owned that, life started shifting. I literally had this conversation with God! I thought, “Okay, I got it! I finally got it. But…what do I do with this now? What does that look like?”
But know this…when we own it, we will get guided. We will get the steps. We may not get the whole path, but it will come. I certainly didn’t get the vision of the next 10 years. I couldn’t have imagined that I would move to the West Coast. I wouldn’t have thought I would actually pick up and move to Bali. But to get to the next steps, we’ve got to clear the space to allow those steps to come in. For me, that next step was taking some time and going deeper within myself. The message was, “If you want to do this for other women, guess what? You’ve got to figure out how to do this for yourself, because you haven’t done that yet.” That calling for me was to take a giant leap of faith. I picked up and moved to Bali. And here’s where it gets amazing and magical: I thought I was going for 3 months because I was afraid and wasn’t ready to just cut off my old life. So, I took a baby step.
And guess what? 3 months of being on that journey turned into a year and a half! Who would have thought it? If you said, “Zuri, just take off for a year and a half, live off of savings and allow money to just flow into your life.” I would have said you had lost your mind and it wasn’t going to happen. And it happened!
When I was truly taking those leaps of faith, the wings did appear. It was so much bigger than I imagined. There was so much more! Every step I took, the next 2 steps showed up for me. As I continued, I was able to refine the vision, get even more clarity, and start taking actions that took me to my next level.
So, I want to let you know it is possible. Those deep yearnings are within you for a reason. They are your callings of where you were meant to go. Trust me…it’s not going to let you down. You’ve been molded and shaped for this. It’s time for you to accept it, to own it and be willing to move forward!
What’s Your Calling?
Allow yourself to take some time and feel into what you are called to do. What are those yearnings for you? If you had a magic wand and could wave it and get whatever you desire, what’s that thing that you desire for yourself? What’s that thing you wish to bring into, create or shift in your life? That’s the depth. That’s when you really start living at a whole different level.
If you are ready to shift from what you can do to what you are called to do, let me know. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sending big love!