Page 40 - Lifestyle Oct Nov 2020

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WELLBEING
HOW SUFFERING
TRANSFORMS US
It’s fair to say I was pretty much just coasting along– life wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t thriving either, however it was about to take
a severe turn for the worse and I was to face the biggest challenges of my life that would eventually lead to an incredible transformation.
In 2010, my sister and mum were both diagnosed with terminal cancer. I had already lost my dad to cancer 11 years earlier and had never really recovered, but the succession of losses that were to follow pushed me to my limit. Not only did I lose my mum 12 months after her diagnosis, but in the same year, I split with my partner, losing my home, and shortly afterwards, I lost my sister Christine too. They say divorce, moving house and bereavement are the top three stressors you can go through, but the challenges didn’t end there; I have another sister who has learning disabilities. I had always known I would look after Shelly when my parents passed away, but I hadn’t expected it to happen in my mid 30’s or to be doing it alone.
Every aspect of my life had been thrown up in the air. My transformation started with life coach - Alisdair Stewart. When I first met Alisdair,
he told me he helps people to reach their full potential, then bluntly said “You could do with some coaching”! Although I was miffed at his comment, I knew he was right. Even though
I was working as a producer with the BBC - a
job I loved and was winning many prestigious awards, the rest of my life was a wreck. I was in debt, overweight, unhappy in my relationship,
By Suzy Beaumont
year after year passing by with me hoping things would get better.
It took me four months to pluck up the courage to call Alisdair and book my first life coaching session. I felt embarrassed. I should be able to sort my own life out, everyone else manages, why was I such a failure? Of course, I know now, it takes real courage to admit life isn’t turning out how you had planned and even more courage to do something about it.
That first session led to a 10-year journey of transformation, changing every aspect of my life. Now, I’m healthy, happy and doing my dream job, inspiring others to make positive changes
in their lives through my Change Your World Coaching Services, so completely overhauling my working life too.
Rabbi Steve Leder states “Every one of us sooner or later walks through hell. The point is not to come out empty handed.”
The key to change and surviving the challenges that life throws at us is to have a consistent personal development practice – what you do today, creates all your tomorrows. If you take a moment to look at your life, you’ll instinctively know the areas you need to change, whether
its health, work, relationships or all of it! Spend time working out what you want and more importantly, how you want to feel. You can’t create the life you really want to live if you don’t know where you’re going. It’s like trying to book a holiday, if you don’t know your destination