People Who Transform Their Mess Into Their Mission.
When I was in school studying mindfulness, I observed something interesting when learning about the benefits of gratitude.
The concept is, of course, that when we’re thankful for things, we tell the Universe and our brain that we’re capable of seeing the positive in things, and essentially calling in more of what we want.
There’s an aspect of attraction to it: when we’re grateful for the things we appreciate, we’re affirming to the Universe what we want in our life, things we like about our partner, work, life in general — it’s like saying out loud or in our journal, “Yeah, I love that, give me more of that!”
What I noticed is that there are people who are ready to shift their mindset to even being grateful for the positives in trauma and the bad things that happen, and not just the good, and then there are people who approach from pain instead of transformation, and they sit in anger, shame, grief, guilt, for years.
To be able to see the lesson and the gold even in trauma, despite your victim story, is literally what separates the people who stay in their ‘poor me’ story for years from the people who become advocates, speakers, and role models for change.
There were people in my class who got angry at my instructor, and I’ve even noticed it in my time since being a coach. I’ve heard this a lot at this point, some from comments on my content from people who aren’t ready to shift their mindset, still approaching from pain instead of change. “Do you know what I’ve been through? You want me to be grateful? How can I be grateful for anything bad that’s happened to me?”
For what happened? For your rough childhood? No. God, no. What happened to you may have been terrible. I want you to be grateful you’re alive and move on. I want you to find the gratitude in not just the bad days, but the events that gave you so much inner work and self-reflection that you realize that thing is part of who you are to become.
You can call it design, soul contracts, whatever name you want to give it. But the fact is good and bad things happen to everyone, and how you deal with it, clean up the mess, and think about it is fundamental in aligning into your life’s path. Seeing that your mess to clean up is your mission.
This is a topic I’ve held on to for a long time, because I was afraid of the backlash from people who aren’t ready to hear it, but what kind of coach and writer would I be if I didn’t provoke the thoughts of my readers and even people I help?
Just as a doctor taps on the knee to get a reflex reaction, or a physiotherapist moves a body part around to find where it hurts, sometimes I will provoke the minds of my readers with things that make you think about your own situation.
Understand that it’s often kids from broken homes who become social workers, the people who had to fight homophobic family who become gay rights activists, rape victims or ones close to them who become spokespeople for victims of sexual assault. The amputee who gets over the mental struggle to start playing wheelchair basketball and becomes a para-athlete.
It absolutely takes inner work and healing to shift into that stage, but I think its so necessary to talk about this side of shifting the things that happen to us through gratitude and mindset. Because beyond the pain of whatever has happened to us, is the gold that we were meant to see.
I get very touchy when I say that because there are traumas I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and it can be damaging to look right at someone and say, “This was supposed to happen so you could get to the part where you make a big change about it.” That may be true, but someone who’s healing from sexual assault usually doesn’t want to hear that in the midst of their healing.
But despite the heaviness of that, just take a step back for a moment and think about life and the grand scheme of it.
Sometimes people have to get pushed into specific situations before they turn into someone who is needed somewhere. That there was a need for a specific type of person in the world, and it took going through exactly what you did to become the person, the advocate, or the helper the world needed.
So, be the person who looks at what happens to you and says, “Wow, I get it. I’m going to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. I can see that I went through this to help others. I’m going to turn this pain into growth.”
I promise you, that is the difference between people who go through tough things and can’t get through the pain they see in front of them, and the ones who burn bright, and become activists, speakers, authors, helpers, and lightworkers. To be a lightworker is to be anyone who can take their shadow and heal it, and the world. To take the mess in front of you, and make it your mission to clean it up.
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Jordan Forget is a loving father, a healer, and a seeker of the Old Norse wisdom. He draws from his background in kinesiology and his reiki training to provide his clients with a path to healing and balance. He has dedicated himself to helping others through this holistic approach, and is committed to continuing on his own shamanic path. Through his practice, he aims to demystify the road to being healthy and whole, and strives to provide his clients with the tools and training to be the best possible version of themselves. You could buy his 8-week transformation workbook on Amazon, and contact him via Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or email.