Take a good look in the mirror. Do you like what you see? I don’t mean do you like your haircut or the colour of your hair. I don’t mean your physical body and if you think something is too small or too big. Do you like YOU?

I have, many times over the years chosen to say the unpopular truth or make the uncomfortable decision. This always comes at a cost. There are always consequences. Sometimes you know damn well what’s coming and yet other times you really have no idea what will come of a decision and how it creates a ripple effect.

Perhaps one of the things that is most difficult for me is being a person that does not budge very easily. Or at all. Sometimes my Dad calls me Sable Island. It has become our private joke and he uses it when necessary to make a point. It always makes me smile, then laugh and pause regarding whatever we are doing or discussing.

Oh?…are you not be familiar with Sable Island? It is situated 300km southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia and about 175km southeast of the closest point of mainland Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic Ocean. So basically the middle of nowhere. It is isolated and remote. It is well known for its population of wild horses. The point then of my Dad’s joke is that he’s calling me a wild horse that can’t be broken.

The reason I say there’s difficulty in being a person that doesn’t budge is because…well really because I KNOW that I will always make the hard decision regardless of how uncomfortable it is. This in turn actually makes other people uncomfortable. And its this very point that I find interesting. Ultimately most people will choose comfort or the path that seems the most safe. The irony of this though is that they THINK they don’t want to choose something that causes discomfort. They choose short term comfort yet in the end suffer from long term discomfort because they were not true to themselves.

Over the past two years there has been a global issue that has touched everyone. I have once again chosen the uncomfortable path. I realized a few months ago that my issue really is not about my decisions. I have not surprisingly NOT budged or changed my stance on anything. But what became eye opening for me this time was that I really didn’t like the consequences that I now had to feel, for the decision that I still will not budge on. See how that goes? It’s not that I am being stubborn for the sake of it. I am holding firm to my values and beliefs.

Today I witnessed an event which brought tears to my eyes because it was very powerful. And in that moment I can see how all the discomfort of the past melted, prepared me and it felt like I have waited for this day. I stepped back into my power.

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional ~ Haruki Murakami