Helping Others Reach Their Fullest Potential
Who I am, deep inside, is more than the sum of the words that identify parts of my life. Yes I am a wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, storyteller, and writer. Those are things I do, and give glimpses into various aspects of my life.
Those inner values and desires include my faith, love of family, compassion, empathy, and desire to continually learn and grow as a person, and in my craft of storytelling, writing, and speaking. Faith, love, and compassion colour, drive, and even design the manner in which I take on roles.
My faith has sustained me through some tough times where the darkness threatened to envelop and I held on to the barest threads of hope. These inner workings of my personality, beliefs, and love have shaped the relationship with my husband and the way I mothered my children. I stumbled through those transition years between childhood and teenager, and then needed to relearn how to parent adult children even as I wished for a do-over button as I learned more.
The desire to learn and help others find their voice, move out of their comfort zone, and reach their fullest potential invades each part of my life. I love telling stories that help others know they are not alone, even when life is tough and dark. Family stories, my own memories, and anecdotes I hear that impress a picture into my mind, all find a place in sharing with others the lessons I have learned and that might help them.
I am inspired as I listen to or read the stories of others, and how they moved out of their comfort zones and began to stretch toward new ventures. It is part of the learning from each other, encouraging each other, and walking alongside on this journey called life.
The compassionate inner part of me allows me to mentor others, hear their pain, and sometimes, feel it too much. My husband teases me that I should live where they hire professional mourners for I can easily cry with someone in tears and laugh with them as well. I have sat in a restaurant with my daughters during their college days. One comment led to another, and soon I began to dissolve in giggles as they told entertaining stories about school.
This desire to help someone else as I learn about their needs has led me to overextend myself, and forget to take care of my own needs, leading to burnout. I have a hard time saying no, but am working on that little two letter word when applicable so I have time for self-care and artist’s dates to inspire creativity. I am learning to recognize that I am more than the words that describe my roles of wife, mother, grandmother, storyteller, writer, and teacher. It is okay to love to study, learn, and grow. It is wonderful to be creative, and to entertain people with my stories as well as educate them. I am a woman of faith who loves deeply, and with compassion for those who intersect my journey.
Written by: Carol Harrison; Carol’s Corner
