Create Your Life: Having Nothing Can Mean Having Everything

“Breakdowns can create breakthroughs. Things fall apart so things can fall together.” ~Unknown

A decade ago, as a nomadic adventure-seeker, I traveled and lived in Belize. I’ve always been a dream chaser, which means if I dream it, I start living it.

My twenty-year-old self was convinced living the island life in the soulful country of Belize was my dream and gateway to happiness.

After about a year of a major reality check—living on an island is very different than vacationing on an island! I felt totally empty. I felt like I had nothing.

Seriously, I had no job or city to go back to. Yet, it was just the breakdown I needed to move to the other side of the breakthrough.

A friend I met down there, another nomadic adventurer, said it so simple and straight:

“Well, since you got nothing, you’re really free to do anything.”

And in that moment was a major mental mind-shift:

Having nothing also means having everything.

That made it easy to get off my sorry butt and take full charge of the limitless possibilities in my life.

In the empty space of having nothing, there is plenty of room for the new and incredible to make its way in.

And that’s what I am sharing today:

If you feel like something is missing, or if you feel like you are not where you want to be, if you feel like “This is not it!” You know what? Within the “This is not it” rests the answer of your “Yes! This is it” life.

If you are not living the life you want, the biggest hurdle you face is within your own mind. As said by Anthony Robbins:

“It’s not about resources, it’s about resourcefulness.”

Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, use that to fire up what you want.

If you want anything to change in your life, you need to change your mind first. If you feel like you are in a the midst of a breakdown—like things around you are falling apart and not going the way you hoped, you need to first change your mind and then choose another way.

The energy around a breakdown is heavy. However, energy is just energy. Instead of labeling the breakdown as “bad,” imagine un-charging the heaviness, and simply seeing it as pure energy. That pure energy is pure potential.

Take that massive amount of energy from the breakdown and transform it into your breakthrough moment.

If I had remained in my funked-out state, worrying that I have no job and no home, I never would have started researching new places to live, and new things to learn, and the new life I wanted to create.

I took the energy of the breakdown and redirected it into taking action to change my circumstances.

The moment I shifted my perception, my reality changed.

As Marianne Williamson says, “A miracle is just a shift in perception.”

And that is what happened to me that day. It was a miracle.

A shift in my perception led me from living in a situation that was no longer serving any joy or purpose, and directed me to move to Vancouver and study holistic nutrition, which has played a massive role in my joy and purpose.

Whatever is not working in your life, you can make a miracle out if it, too.

All you need to do is take that first step and decide.

If you are feeling in a funk, or like things are just not working out, take that energy and redirect it.

Start by simply giving yourself permission to fully feel the pain you are in. Once you can accept that your current circumstances are no longer serving you, you can choose to deliberately change it.

Give yourself permission to take “thinking time.” Life can get so busy, and often when we don’t like where our life is, we fill it with things to do so that we don’t have to think about our unhappiness.

However, this doesn’t help us get out of our funk. This is what keeps us stuck in a perpetual state of unhappiness.

Give yourself permission to think. Go outside in nature and give yourself an hour of pure thinking time. Ask yourself: What do I want in my life? What is my dream solution?

The answers are inside of us. All we need is to give a little time to take care of our emotional body so that we can break free from the self-made blocks that leave us feeling heavy and unhappy.

Once you give yourself time to think, you will often start to shift into a new mindset full of possibilities. The most important thing at this stage will be to make an action plan to actually change how you are living.

Ask yourself, what step can you take today to make your life lighter? What can you let go of that is no longer serving you?

Sometimes it will be a radical change, like moving to a new city and starting a new job, or studying something brand new. Other times it can be as simple as integrating a new healthy eating habit or daily exercise routine.

Whatever it is, make sure you take action so that you actually breakthrough to the other side and live a life of more meaning and fulfillment.

Now it’s your turn.

Have you ever experienced a shift in perception that helped you get unstuck? Or are you in a place that feels stuck and you’re finally ready to shift your perspective?

Share your story and insights in the comments below. Your contribution helps us all grow!

Photo by Leland Francisco

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