Written by Dorothy A. Martin-Neville

One day this week I posted on LinkedIn, with a picture from above the clouds and said: “No matter where you are with your business or your life, it is an amazing adventure to watch how expanded our field of influence is.” A wonderful, hilarious, woman and friend who follows me responded: “Ohhhh, what an adventure! What a trip!” with a couple of emojis of a face in terror.

Her life isn’t in the best place right now. There are so many things I wish I could take from her plate and throw away. However, as we all know, I can’t. Life does have many ups and downs that are presented to us, created by us, or what feels like, simply dumped on us. That is certainly a part of what this life of ours is all about.

We change, we grow, at times we outgrow what used to fit, what used to work, and what no longer does. Sometimes a particular job was perfect for us at one stage of our lives but as we grow and change, we are ready for something different or something more. More challenges, more opportunities, and more expansion that calls us to keep growing and having an impact.

We can see it all as a burden to be dealt with or we can see it as an exciting expansion and adventure that is calling us to so much more. Frequently that growth requires a letting go. Just this morning in speaking with a client I mentioned that her level of growth, completing her MSW and getting her license after years in another profession, now requires her to grow personally as well.

Her past few years have been focused outward, on her family and her education as well as her career. Now she needs to focus on herself. How is she going to grow into this position? How is this going to change her sense of self? Her worldview? Frequently, we want to convince ourselves that nothing is going to change when we have completed a milestone, yet inevitably things do.

I also let her know, that predictively there will be those who will not go forward with her. Yearly, I warned my first-year students at my Institute that as they grew, they would find that certain friends would disappear. They would not like the changes or feel uncomfortable and consequently, they would drift apart.

We are meant to surround ourselves with folks who call us to be our best selves. People who call us to grow, change, and become so much more. Yes, people who also make us laugh, remind us to breathe, and who may on occasion support us in getting into trouble, yet who love watching the consistent changes in who we are becoming. Those friends are few and far between, but they are the friends who will be walking the adventure with us, decade after decade.

This adventure called life is meant to be shared and enriched so find those who love walking it with you and who you love walking with, through the best and worst of it. The shared adventure, shared laughs, shared tears, shared teasing, and shared support all make this adventure quite an experience. I wish the best of it for each of you. If you are stuck in struggle and can’t find the adventure, call, especially in a time of transition. I’d love to help you walk through it. That’s the best time of all….  

Dorothy