The Miracle Tools that Got Me Through
I learned at a very young age that life was not a linear path, a straight line, a smooth road. I was born to love birds but I was raised between them; literally flying from one to the other with much turbulence in-between. I gained so much from my parents, but would not realize just how much until many years into adulthood.
Through tremendous heartache, pain and undesirable circumstances, two high-achieving, career-minded people struggled daily to balance life’s complex equation. I watched intently, unaware that I was picking up tools that I would need throughout my life, both personally and professionally. I came to understand the value of those tools when met with my mid-career, tumultuous 30s. It was a decade I have coined The Miracle Years.
The Miracle Years
There were many extreme highs and lows between 30 and 40 years old. I experienced the steepest corporate career ladder climb, I had two children, I opened and closed a small business and also felt the gut wrenching loss of several loved ones with no healing time from one to the next. In those ten years, I now know that I used every foundational tool my parents gave me.
So what tools did I learn? What would ultimately equip me?
I learned how to pray from my mother. She prayed over me and also taught me to pray for myself. And when she didn’t have, I saw her find and use resources often from unlikely places. I learned the importance of setting boundaries as I watched her allow undeserving people to cross hers. I learned confidence from my father. He taught me to look fear in the eye and how to defend myself physically and through mental toughness. But some tools I learned from them both, like perseverance and a strong work ethic. Though when I look back over my childhood the one thing that carried me through was the notion that defeat is in your mind. My parents showed me that no matter how far down your valley, even a baby step in the upward direction means something. Triumph is possible as long as you are still breathing and moving. I saw my father and mother in living color, turn darkness into light.
In The Miracle Years, these life tools fed my belief that I had authority over my feelings, my choices and my life. I reach down into the depths of my inner self and used these tools like weapons to slay my way through.