“For many years, I felt incomplete and like many others, looked to everything outside of me for validation. Sure there were many moments of feeling whole, and wholly happy. I am blessed with a wonderful family and a career in which I created legacy. And yet, there I was, still searching; knowing deep down that there was so much more for me, much more that I could give and be part of. A few months before my 50th birthday (there, I said it!) I experienced a minor vehicle accident in which someone pulled out in front of me and I didn’t have space to stop before hitting their car. For the time it took to take a breath, I confirmed that my children were not in the back seat, then I swore and then I thought “okay, I get it…I’m not on the path that I am supposed to be on. Show me!” There were so many things happening at work in which I felt I had little control and I felt so stuck. A few weeks later, I was gifted with a free ticket to a weekend training in personal development that changed everything. Over the next couple of years, I continued to take courses that would help me to make peace with myself. The next leap was to leave my secure, corporate job so that I could be for others, what my teachers and mentors had been for me.

Does this mean, now, that life is perfect; that there are no ups and downs? Absolutely not and by the way, perfection does not exist. Where I’m at now, though, is in a place of emotional flexibility, curiosity and confidence. I understand fully that I am responsible for my happiness and that if there is something that isn’t working well for me, that I’m the only one to change it. I am much more likely, now, to laugh at myself with compassion (not derision) when I screw up and am so grateful to be in this place.”

~ Karen