REFLECTIONS

by Shirley M. Carolan

This has been a year of considerable reflection for me. It started, quite naturally, by journaling my feelings about HOW and WHERE my life was going, while keeping in mind if the direction I was headed towards was OK with me ... the kinds of gems I teach my clients when they attend either my JOURNALING or GOAL SETTING seminars.

To be sure, it’s a process and it can be long, short, or even arduous. In my case it’s been extremely arduous! That’s because I had conflicting goals and aspirations. I wanted to have a thriving writing business as well as a lucrative speaking business.

Today, I realize there is nothing intrinsically wrong with that if you are in your 30s, 40s or even 50s, and want to do both, to the exclusion of everything else. Or, your early formal education prepared you for entrees into such careers. But it’s a bit overwhelming if you’re launching both in your 70s! Not that I was literally starting from scratch mind you. While life was happening to me I was always busy on the side dabbling in both careers. I allowed “survival” to be my mentor, yardstick, and constant companion.

Perhaps St. John’s University in New York was right after all. I was taking English Lit and Poly Sci at night, back in 1962-64, while working full time as an executive secretary to the President of the company. I thought my identity then was my two-piece suit and title. St. John’s suggested that I major in English and get a BS degree. At the time, that seemed ridiculously easy to me. But that’s for another article.

Today, I am literally ridding myself of all the “fluff,” the good but sidetracking events, seminars, people, books, obstacles, both real and imagined, that I allow to impede my progress. It’s euphoric but also quite scary because it’s letting go of the familiar that I’ve surrounded myself with and quite literally striking out on a path that acknowledges my true purpose and mission in life! Why, it’s like doing a firewalk all over again with Tony Robbins but this time around I intend to succeed! This time around however, I have a wonderful, supportive, professional team who want me to succeed and won’t let me fail!

Stay tuned to learn more about my new venture and how journaling is opening the doors to success!

Shirley M. Carolan
artistwithaflair@att.net
Phone/Fax: 760-732-0332
www.shirleycarolan.com
http://smcarolan.blogspot.com
http://angelscross.blogspot.com