The Three Questions

We fail, we get hurt, we break – bad things happen because that’s how life is sometimes. When it does, know that we cannot control everything that happens to us, but we can always choose how to react.

My Sister taught me to ask myself these three things when I experience challenges:

1. Where am I?
2. Where do I want to be?
3. How do I get there?

At one point I was broken. That’s where I was. I had to take a moment to acknowledge how I feel. I had to accept the situation that I was in. I was broken, but I was surrounded by people who love me. It wasn’t all too bad. It wasn’t bad at all! I lost something but I still had so much to be grateful for.

It’s ok not to be okay. It’s ok to feel sadness and pain. But we should always know when to get back up on our feet and move on. One can always choose to feel rage, find people to blame, or wallow in regret. But how will that serve us?

When I asked myself where I wanted to be – I knew I didn’t want to stay broken. I wanted to appreciate what I have than wallow about what I have lost. I wanted to be back to my usual motivated self, I wanted to be better, healthier, and braver. I wanted to have the courage to create the life that I want. The courage to accept imperfections and the courage to take more risks. The courage to accept failures, to feel pain and overcome it. The courage to accept that I am both a masterpiece and a work in progress. The courage to be a better version of myself, for myself.

“How do I get there?” is the question that makes us get up and do the work. It encourages us to take action. To start walking towards where we want to be by taking the steps as little as they may be.

Know that we may face challenges but we always have the choice and the ability to turn things around. Asking myself these three questions helps me take a grip on reality when everything seems to be a mess. It allows me to acknowledge the situation that I am in, and create intentional decisions that lead me to be where I want to be.

Where are you now? Where do you want to be? How will you get there?