Where will you be in five years?

Where do you see yourself in five years? The question that I have never been fond of, especially in a job interview.

However, yesterday my Facebook memory came up that 10 years ago, Oct. 12, 2009, I received my non-profit status for Positive Focus. It put me in a reflective mood of where I was 10 years ago, and I promise you, had you asked me where I saw myself back then, it wouldn’t look like where I am today. And yet, in some respects it would as my answer for the five year question doesn’t have specific goals set to it. Whether it be a week from now, six months from now, or five years from now, I want to be successful at being happy, helping others, and growing into the next best version of me.

My last 10 year journey has been filled with great LOVE, laughter, adventure, happiness, joy, kindness, compassion, peace, FEAR, sadness, frustration, unworthiness, and grief with the loss of my mom and recently of my baby girl (dog) Mika. It has been filled with all of those feelings and emotions. I’ve grown from each celebration and each sorrow. I’ve learned more about myself with each success and each ‘failure’.

Yes, my life is mostly happy as I CHOOSE happiness. I choose it on the great days and I choose it on the rough ones.

While I choose happiness, fear visits. It visits telling me who do I think I am to run a big nonprofit. It begs me to look at other people and organizations and compare myself to them as they are doing a ‘better job’ than I am. It tries to tell me that success is money driven only and if you aren’t making six+ figures, you aren’t doing it right.

But as fear visits, LOVE is right there too. LOVE let’s me feel the feels and then nudges me back to my truth of being the best version of me that I can. LOVE reminds me what I am passionate about… letting people feel seen, feel heard, and letting them know they matter. LOVE says “You’ve got this as you ARE this.” LOVE reminds me to be gentle with myself and give the fearful little girl inside a big hug.

LOVE reminds me while I’ve grown Positive Focus, PF continues to grow me.

Moving forward, if you find yourself struggling with where you are or where you want to go and don’t see how you can get there, I encourage you to:

Know your why. Why do you want what you want? Why do you want that job? Why do you want that romantic relationship? Why do you want to be healthy? Why do you want financial abundance? Get into the feeling of the why and let that grow.

Believe the seeming roadblocks in your way to happiness are there to serve you not harm you. I know personally, some of my most painful moments in my life, goodness came from it when I gave it time. That doesn’t mean I didn’t cry and feel deep sadness, as I did, especially while in the middle of it. I can still feel some pangs from the ‘what if’s’ of my past and yet I know that the person I am today is because of experiencing them. Yep, the painful ones too.

Allow life to show up in different ways that you might have thought and yet still have the ‘feeling’ you want. Example, instead of seeking a specific job, allow a job that fits your requirements… a creative and collaborative environment where they respect and appreciate you.

Mostly, my wish for you this week is to know that you deserve a life of LOVE, laughter, adventure, happiness, joy, kindness, compassion, peace, HUGS, and allowing fear to visit just enough to keep you focused on gratitude and appreciation.

Until next time, happy anniversary on being your best each day.

Ten years in the making: