The Great Reset: Sometimes, life happens

This time last year, I wrote in the VYA newsletter about the issues I’ve had with relaxing. Relaxation was never something that came easily to me for various reasons: I felt socially awkward at school and coped by clamming up; I felt insufficient about basically everything; I witnessed both my grandmother’s and mother’s struggles with anxiety, making me feel genetically predisposed to no-chill. 

But this time last year, I was a month away from becoming a mother myself. I knew that changing my mindset to focus on peace was going to be my best bet for a safe labor and delivery, as well as a healthy baby. Change was afoot, and I needed to reset. 

Fast forward a year. The past month has been incredibly challenging for my family. It included travel hubris, a car accident, hospitalization, outpatient treatments, fever, the air conditioning going out, and debt accumulation. At one point I said, “Do we need to get out the holy water?” 

In the midst of all this, I was trying to find alternate childcare options so I could make a business trip I’d been really looking forward to. A friend told me, “I think you’re being told to slow down and reset.” 

I lamented that she was correct. 

Sometimes, life happens, and when it does, we need to slow down and reset. Regrouping is the best thing we can do for everyone, including ourselves. 

To that end, I’ve chosen to postpone the VY Advisors Workshop: Captivate Your Candidates, until the fall. I realized I don’t have the energy to bring my best self to it right now, and – like I said in that post last year – I do my best or nothing at all. 

I reset best when I write, and nearly one year since my son was born, it’s time for me to get back to my first love. Starting in July, I’ll be enacting a four-day workweek, devoting my Mondays to writing. I haven’t taken a call or meeting on a Monday all year in preparation for this, so I know for a fact you won’t miss me. :) 

For encouragement this week, I reflected on a post I wrote in December. It was also a stressful time, though less so than the past month, and what I wrote was: There is always a way. As I reset this summer in the face of a lot of questions, I know there will always be a way because I’m staying true to myself and choosing to be at peace. Change must be afoot, and I’m ready for it, whatever it may be.