Written by: Ghesi Stojanov, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
As a teen, I never envisioned that as an adult, I would be that girl who would bury her oldest son, lose a home, a business, and have to live off food stamps before 26.
I never thought in a million years that I would then be the girl who would later have a beautiful son with a genetic disorder and learning disabilities. Hear the Doctors say; you have triple-positive breast cancer, have a double mastectomy, a partial thyroidectomy, or have to fight for answers to help my daughter's debilitating COVID-19 long hauler symptoms all before the age of 40.
But I am also proud to be that girl who married her best friend, blessed with two beautiful children, privileged to have lived in Australia for nine years, driven cross country in the United States and Australia with two kids in tow under five years of age.
In my 40 years on this planet, I've laughed, I've cried, I've been brought to my knees, and even had to fight for my life.
Yet, I still get excited when I see fireworks, met beautiful people, and love life with every part of my soul and its endless possibilities.
When most of us envision a life of fulfillment, we never incorporate the trials, heartaches, or struggles. It's not as if we've never experienced problems, traumas, or disappoints as children. It's just that we never believe that it's going to happen to us.
So, when life kicks us in the guts, we struggle. Not because we're not strong enough or capable. But we are not given the proper tools to help us overcome, adapt, learn and grow through it -which will make or break us, depending on how we receive and internalize the negative and positive circumstances thrown our way.
Learning how to embrace the good, the bad, and the ugly motivates us to grow through it instead of sitting in it. Owning everything life has in store for us empowers our minds, hearts, and souls to grow stronger, find solutions, and helps us to let go of the negative thinking that is holding us back from truly embracing all the beauty that life has to offer.
Life will slap you in the face and even bring you to tears -but life does not keep you there. That’s a choice we choose to make.
I want to share five simple steps that I used to help me overcome some of the darkest moments in my life. So you can grow stronger, turn your dark moment into light so you can live life with joy and power too.
1. Embrace Your Circumstances.
Whether it's business or personal, you have to wrap your heart, mind, and soul around it and embrace it for what it is (a really crappy moment). When you embrace your circumstances, you make a conscious decision to take action by stepping forward to face it instead of burying your head in the sand and wishing it away. When you embrace our circumstances, we are taking the first steps to take back our power.
Doing this allows your brain to start creating a game plan to overcome and grow from it.
2. Acknowledge Your Pain.
When we acknowledge our pain, we recognize it and admit that change needs to occur, which switches our narrative. Slowly bringing us out of a place of "why me" into "why not me."
Doing this allows us to open our hearts and minds to let go of our negative thinking and emotions to create change.
3. Listen to What You Need.
When we listen to what we need, we get honest with ourselves, start to take inventory of what we need, and check-in with our needs regularly.
Doing this allows us to tune into our inner voice instead of tunning it out and shutting it up, and trying to bury it.
4. Own Your Happiness.
When we take ownership of our happiness, we stop looking for relationships, friendships, children, and things to make us happy. We stop burying our needs and begin to reclaim our rightful place in the driver seat of our lives.
Owning our happiness permits us to let go of the things that tie us down and hold us back from finding true fulfillment -by taking ownership of what we need, who we are, and what we do.
5. Plugin Spiritually.
When we feel like the world's weight is on our shoulders and we want to tap-out, this is when being plugged into a higher source is so important. Being plugged in allows us a safe place to share all our thoughts and feeling without judgment -giving us time to process without fear.
Being spiritually Plugged in helps to anchor us by keeping us charged, comforted, strong, focused, and at peace.
Over my forty years, I've learned to turn these dark moments into light. By embracing the issue, acknowledging it, listening to my needs, owning my happiness, and tapping in spiritually -so I could release my pain, enjoy the present joy that surrounds us all, and start creating a purposeful future.
Each of these five steps flows into the next and unlocks different parts of your mind, heart, and soul -allowing your subconscious and conscious self to align so you can overcome the problem at hand and turn your dark moments into your light and power too.
"Remember your life is your greatest masterpiece, Be the Color."
Ghesi Stojanov, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Ghesi Stojanov is a transformational coach with a mission to help others find balance, own their journey, and tune in to their power. After the loss of her first child in 2004, welcoming her youngest son with a genetic disorder NF1 in 2011, and a triple-positive breast cancer diagnosis in 2013, Ghesi created techniques that helped her navigate through these challenging moments with power, purpose, and light. She helps her clients on their journey to "Be the Color" in their greatest masterpiece that is their life.
