Your Table-Clearing Moments
Sometimes feeling stuck doesn't mean you're lost. Sometimes it means your life is asking you to clear what no longer fits and make room for what comes next.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.
It seems to come up during the in-between moments in life.
You know, the moments when we might feel stuck.
The moments in life where we decide to try something new or leave something behind.
Those moments can feel scary, the not knowing what next part is feels like time stands still.
Especially when it seems that everyone around you has figured it out, but you might still be contemplating what’s next.
It feels like time is standing still, and you’re watching everyone around you moving forward.
It feels like everyone is moving forward, but you might feel stuck.
Wondering why you feel this way, wondering how to get unstuck.
Wondering if you’re just overthinking where you are…or if you truly feel called to something else.
Maybe it's because the table is too full of old dishes, plates from a meal that's already finished, but still sitting there.
And some part of you already knows it's time to clear them, even before you know what's coming next.
I call these the table clearing moments…
You see, as a child, we had chores – one of them was clearing the table after dinner.
Clearing the table after dinner was not the most fun thing to do by any means.
But it meant that we could do something fun after dinner or have an after dinner treat which was sort of the reward for doing it.
What if we looked at life and moments of feeling stuck or times of transition as clearing the table for the next thing.
Change is something that happens in life, it’s inevitable, but what if we saw those moments as transition periods?
As clearing the table for something fun or the sweet treat…
I’m not saying to “stay positive through it all”.
That’s not realistic – loss brings grief and transitions can be hard; I’m not trying to minimize that.
But what if we see these moments as table clearing moments in our lives too…
We finish a milestone in our lives, like school…to get to the table where we are hopefully doing what we love for careers.
We make the decision to walk away from relationships that have run their course…clearing space for a new dinner party with people who may become your best friends.
We leave the job, to find one where we will learn something new…or transition to a completely different career more aligned with our purpose and calling.
We pack up our homes to move to a new city, or new house…to find a place where we will feel settled or surrounded by what we’re searching for like a city, nature, or a beach.
What if we saw these moments in life as table clearing moments that brought us to something fun or our sweet treat?
How can we reframe things so that we see these moments as empowering instead of seeing them as scary?
Moments where we get to choose who’s invited to our table next...
Moments we get to choose what our next course is…appetizer, dinner, or dessert.
Moments we get to choose what our next dinner party looks like…what our life looks like.
That feels different than “I have to do this thing” or feeling like a victim of circumstance.
It feels like we’ve cleared the table for what’s next, and we get to choose.
It feels hopeful and exciting and could be something amazing to look forward to.
— Rossana