Life is a game and taking risks is how you play! From the moment we get out of bed until the moment our head hits the pillow we are taking risks. Life is too short to be paralyzed by the fear of things we cannot control. I like what one of my coaches said many years ago. He said “life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we decide to respond.” So much of what we want in life is just outside our comfort zones.
I’ll use my own life to illustrate this concept. In 2015 I was outwardly living a good life, married with four children living in a comfortable home and making tremendous progress in a 12-step program and a leader in my church but inside so depressed, falling apart, and I was suicidal. The juxtaposition of my inner and outer worlds collided. I decided to ask my higher power, God, what was driving my addiction and depression that kept robbing me of happiness. After a lot of prayer and meditation I received my answer through two profoundly strong feelings or spiritual promptings. First, “your female gender is not something you can ignore” and second “It’s okay to ask for help.” This experience gave me the confidence and permission to Take The Risk to seek out two professional therapists to get the help I needed. As a result, I was diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a term I had never heard before, which led me to the Chance of learning more about myself as a transgender woman. In the months that followed piece by piece, I put together the puzzle of my life and everything became clearer to me.
I took the risk and it saved my life, literally! Be true, be you, and be authentic! More to follow…