Your Time to Soar with Lois Leonard: The Wisdom From Pearls

if we can actually achieve our desired outcome. These pearls are some of the tools that will help dreams come to life. What are the pearls? The pearls are the expressions that many adults have heard from their parents, grandparents, and grandparents; and have been heard, said, and embodied by some as the fabric that guides them through the good and the not so good times.
 Those pearls include:

1. God never gives you more than you can handle. I do remember telling my grandmother, “I think he has me mixed up with someone else”. But knowing that this was the statement, also knew it was hard, but somewhere deep inside me there was something that could be latched on to, drawn upon to help me through whatever was happening. 
2. This too shall pass – Life’s events are just that…EVENTS. They appear good / bad because that is what we have been told, experienced, felt, or learned as some of the “feelings” towards these events. It will not remain; however, if you do not learn the lesson, it may (actually…most certainly will) return in a similar fashion. The judgement of the event is different for most people as they all have a different lens through which the event is viewed. If seen as event or a lesson, what good can come from it? Some will say, if the “bad” hadn’t happened, the good wouldn’t have been possible. Some however, will take the event as bad and remain with it…going down the spiral of life rather than rising through the spiral of life.
3. Everything in moderation, not overuse or underuse. The caveat for this “everything” finite is this doesn’t include the drug culture. This was added as they loved me dearly and did not want me to become addicted to drugs or alcohol. Even though the latter was legal at age 19. They were hoping I would be so ingrained with this that excess wouldn’t enter the picture. Especially when you embrace #1 and #2. Whether it is food, drink, exercise, TV, shopping, moderation is key. Too much can set you on the path of addiction and not doing at all, can create mental and physical health challenges. Moderation permits knowledge and benefits of something. Understanding whether you like something or not; yet overdoing something may create a rut in your life and you will get stuck.
4. Be you and resist the urge to compare. You were born as you. No one can do you like you can, and you can’t do anyone else as you were not born to be anyone else. You were born to be you and oh, the amazing things you can do if you give yourself the chance, the belief, the support, and the love. Comparing yourself will rock the plane one which you fly. It will create doubt where none need exist, it will cause envy, resentment, and most importantly, a distraction that will take your focus off what you are here to do, expand, and grow from. What you are meant to do and celebrate. You may even find yourself one day asking so who am I? I know what I don’t want, and not what I do want. You may be a workaholic, or have an addiction to something else, connections with others may not be what you want. When you are you and remain true to you, your relationships are connected and healthy, you are confident, strong, and excited about the day ahead. Be and Stay You!
5. Keep Learning & Be Curious – I believe it was actually said “Don’t stop learning” and be curious which is a way to work with fear. In fact, I am proud to say that the expression, “Learn something new every day” has kept me going for 57 years. It amazes me how in the place I work and the field of work I love that I learn more than one thing new every day. I remember when I was a young girl, and my grandfather was the smartest person I knew. He had an answer for almost every question I asked. When I said to him, “Grandad, you know everything.” His response was, “No, honey, I definitely don’t or else it would be my time to die.” He felt that once you knew EVERYTHING…as I realized when I was older, that likelihood was small. He said that he hoped I would continue to be curious and learn about different people, things, places, and any ideas that came. An interesting point, Grandad mentioned, “If you are hearing something or seeing something – take it in and hold it. You are learning it for a reason. You may not need it now, or tomorrow, but you are learning it for a reason and will draw upon it sometime.” I can honestly say, when it happens, I smile. I love to learn, be curious, and use the knowledge I must support others. 6. Never judge a book by its cover – Now this pearl has multiple meanings. It can be related to people, places, things, and ideas. 

When my grandmother first taught me this pearl, it was about people. What a person looked like, where they went to church, what their education was, how they spoke, or what they ate – was just different than me; it in no way made them better or worse than I. In fact, using #5 would allow me to be curious and ask questions so I could learn something that may continue to interest me or at the very least, learn something new and share with others. The premise was watching the behavior of another. What actions, beliefs, and behaviors did they exhibit. You may find the person in the suit be not kind, polite or compassionate whereas the person with left school long before graduation be a person of service, empathy, and integrity. Looks can be changed easily; character and strength of being may happen if wanted; if not, it doesn’t matter what the look is, it isn’t pretty. This translated to things and ideas. Buying something because it “looks” pretty and shiny or the idea that sounds good in brief; however, has no depth to it. Then we are disappointed as we “judged due to looks and not what it was made of or if there was any depth”. The basic information given when younger, can continue to help support when the road seems dark and the next decision seems to be harder to make. The pearls gifted to me by my grandparents has pulled me up and supported me through hard times, provided me confidence when needed and to reach inside to find the truth. Especially when I wasn’t being me. Complexity is the joy of humans, it provides them the ability to confuse, lie, cheat, and have an excuse for doing something they know could be simple, not easy, but simple. 

They also reminded me that trusting someone to support my growth was beneficial, not a weakness, and made me, as one client said, “I always thought you were taller than I, and you’re not.” The confidence gives me an appearance of height and control. On Your Time to Soar, I share a few of the pearls gifted to me by my grandparents to you who, I hope, will enjoy and learn something new. These gems provide you a return to basics to simplify life; although it may not be easy, the outcome of confidence an a willingness to reach new heights takes off. As life is an experiment, be curious and use the pearl daily and see the change in your life. Life is meant to be joyful with lessons supporting your growth. Use the pearls, if it seems complicated, pause and breathe. Notice what you are noticing and then go back to basics. Cut the noise, cut the comparisons, and cut the mask. Be You. I am dedicated to slowing the number of people with addictions and who are choosing suicide as response to the “noise” outside of them. If you are looking for a change in your life, schedule a discovery session with me to discuss further at TimeToSoarCoaching.ca