A few years later I was in Cincinnati, OH working for a corporate consulting firm. I was moving my way up the ladder, making good money, married, built a house, experiencing real stress to the point of health issues, and still wondering what I was meant to do with my life.
Lesson 3 – The universe is notorious for wake up calls.
I had a dream that my dad passed away. A few weeks later he called and told me he had cancer. I freaked out and my husband simply went to bed leaving me to cry on the phone to my girlfriends. That was the last straw. I was alone in a marriage which was a very lonely place. He pulled me away from my family and friends and I let it happen. No one knew I was sad, I appeared to be living the American dream. Why wouldn’t I be happy? Shock rang through my family and friends as I filed for divorce. Never think you know someone’s situation. My mom was dancing with my dad at the end of that year and she said “what a year it has been, you got cancer and Karen got a divorce”. My father replied “the cancer is worth it I got my daughter back”. I love my parents! Twenty years later my father is fighting his third type of cancer and he’s not giving up!
I found myself on my own but not alone, working in an industry I was good at but felt it wasn’t my destiny, making good money but I was over stressed and restless. Time for another pause and regroup. I did a lot of soul searching, reading, praying, then one day I woke up and massage therapy was passionately in my heart. It was such a strong calling that by the end of the year I moved to Boulder, CO to go to massage school. I’ll never forget the day I drove from Cincinnati to Boulder, it was the day after 9/11. I thought if I can make a difference in just one persons life, it will all be worth it. I was finally pursuing what I wanted to do, what I was destined to do and it felt great. I left behind a six figure income, house, cars, family, friends, and all that I had known to set off for the unknown.
Pause – What tugs at your heart? What was your mission when you came to this earth? It may be what you are doing right now. I believe the universe will continue to give us wake up calls to pursue our destiny, if necessary. Do you have a dream?
Breathe – When you get a call, it’s your choice if you’re going to answer it. I believe that if we get so caught up in our daily routine life we become numb to the call for change. We simply exist but at what cost? Do we lose a spark that was in our heart since birth or does it get buried deeper and deeper? What do you think? Are you living your dream?
Proceed – Join the Pause Breathe Proceed movement, remove the layers of years of beliefs, notice wake up calls, find your destiny, and live your dream!
