(an excerpt from my new book "Pivotal Moments... Peaceful Minds" ©2012 Shelley Giard)
"Years ago I was one of "those people" and today I still am; it is what has allowed me to experience a lot for someone my age and the very thing that will ensure I continue to check things off my bucket list. I am a person who embraces change; if nothing else it's simply for the sake of never being bored. Change is not comfortable, it's not warm and fuzzy or predictable... in fact, it's almost always scary and uncertain and fills you with anxiety; but so does climbing a mountain or jumping from a plane, and I can say that out of all the people I know who have done those things.... nobody regrets the experience, the rush, the euphoria it brings. They would do it again and again just for that "feeling".
Without change, it is impossible to know what"could be", we only know what "is"... and that will never lead you to your fullest potential. We are all given gifts, we were created with hopes that we would do something with them, that is our duty as a human being. If we don't, then shame on us for wasting what we were given, as many would love to have the talents that you possess.
When I was 20, I made the decision to change my career path. I was unhappy working for someone else, it was safe and predictable but I knew that I would never reach my goals working for someone else. With less than $2,000 to my name, a mortgage to pay, a daughter to support, and knowing my marriage was ending, I signed a lease to open my first salon. I had never owned a business, but I knew what I wanted and I did it. Five years later, I was still open... I never got a loan, I never obtained a partner, (although my mother was my partner of sorts; watching Cierra for me while I worked around the clock) and I worked a second job for most of those first five years making sure I could keep it all together. You do what you have to do to make it work if you want it bad enough, and I did.
In 1999 I moved to Florida for change... I was not happy where I was and I needed to grow, so I packed up my house and my business, knowing only one person in Tampa and moved my daughter and I to a new state for a new start. Nearly twelve years later, I am still here... I have owned three salons since my move, I have moved several times and finally settled about five years ago in Spring Hill for very specific reasons and it was a good move.
New opportunities have approached me in the past couple of years and once again I am happy, excited, and nervous with butterflies as I once again embrace change. This one is probably the biggest change of my life so far, it's a leap of faith, a true choice for the right reasons. For the first time in my life, I am truly in love. I am old enough to know what it really is and have experienced what it is not. After having only two long-term relationships in my life, both the result of circumstance; the circumstance being pregnancy, I don't regret trying to make it work, but can honestly say that I was never truly in love... I now know the difference, and it's a sweet surprise.
Fear will prevent change, but fear will also keep you from experiencing amazing things. As I move forward into this next chapter of my life with someone I love and beautiful children that each hold a part of me, I am humbled. I have struggled, I have cried, I have gotten back up and started over, I have laughed, I have screamed, but I have never given up, sustained when I wanted to quit, and have always relied on myself to do what I had to do to get where I wanted to be. It's happening... it's scary... it's surreal... it's amazing, but most of all I feel like it's the beginning to my Happy Ending...."
©2012 Shelley Giard Pivotal Moments... Peaceful Mind
"Years ago I was one of "those people" and today I still am; it is what has allowed me to experience a lot for someone my age and the very thing that will ensure I continue to check things off my bucket list. I am a person who embraces change; if nothing else it's simply for the sake of never being bored. Change is not comfortable, it's not warm and fuzzy or predictable... in fact, it's almost always scary and uncertain and fills you with anxiety; but so does climbing a mountain or jumping from a plane, and I can say that out of all the people I know who have done those things.... nobody regrets the experience, the rush, the euphoria it brings. They would do it again and again just for that "feeling".
Without change, it is impossible to know what"could be", we only know what "is"... and that will never lead you to your fullest potential. We are all given gifts, we were created with hopes that we would do something with them, that is our duty as a human being. If we don't, then shame on us for wasting what we were given, as many would love to have the talents that you possess.
When I was 20, I made the decision to change my career path. I was unhappy working for someone else, it was safe and predictable but I knew that I would never reach my goals working for someone else. With less than $2,000 to my name, a mortgage to pay, a daughter to support, and knowing my marriage was ending, I signed a lease to open my first salon. I had never owned a business, but I knew what I wanted and I did it. Five years later, I was still open... I never got a loan, I never obtained a partner, (although my mother was my partner of sorts; watching Cierra for me while I worked around the clock) and I worked a second job for most of those first five years making sure I could keep it all together. You do what you have to do to make it work if you want it bad enough, and I did.
In 1999 I moved to Florida for change... I was not happy where I was and I needed to grow, so I packed up my house and my business, knowing only one person in Tampa and moved my daughter and I to a new state for a new start. Nearly twelve years later, I am still here... I have owned three salons since my move, I have moved several times and finally settled about five years ago in Spring Hill for very specific reasons and it was a good move.
New opportunities have approached me in the past couple of years and once again I am happy, excited, and nervous with butterflies as I once again embrace change. This one is probably the biggest change of my life so far, it's a leap of faith, a true choice for the right reasons. For the first time in my life, I am truly in love. I am old enough to know what it really is and have experienced what it is not. After having only two long-term relationships in my life, both the result of circumstance; the circumstance being pregnancy, I don't regret trying to make it work, but can honestly say that I was never truly in love... I now know the difference, and it's a sweet surprise.
Fear will prevent change, but fear will also keep you from experiencing amazing things. As I move forward into this next chapter of my life with someone I love and beautiful children that each hold a part of me, I am humbled. I have struggled, I have cried, I have gotten back up and started over, I have laughed, I have screamed, but I have never given up, sustained when I wanted to quit, and have always relied on myself to do what I had to do to get where I wanted to be. It's happening... it's scary... it's surreal... it's amazing, but most of all I feel like it's the beginning to my Happy Ending...."
©2012 Shelley Giard Pivotal Moments... Peaceful Mind
" Pivotal moments are momentous; of extreme importance, vital for success and a result of embracing change. Pivotal moments must be remembered and reflected upon
for they will be the most important ones in your life."
SGiard2012
You're amazing <3
ReplyDeleteDitto Kellie! Ditto!
ReplyDelete