Don’t Hold Back

I’ve been thinking lately about family, who have ‘paved’ a path before me and all the steps they taken to create that path.

 This week, I stopped to think about what I have done in the last year and realized in one year I have taken many significant steps in my life.  Not labeling them ‘a step forward’ or ‘a step back’, each step has brought me a step further in some direction. 

My great grandmother lived to be one hundred and eleven and my grandparents lived past 90.  So many of their steps have not been shared with the next generation and I am so curious now that they have passed, what choices did they make?  What challenges did they conquer? 

Being part of some amazing communities, one of them being my yoga community, as a yoga teacher I have shared my life with some people I had never met before and afterward a once stranger was touched by something I shared.

I know myself, I have been touched by many of my mentors and friends.  They share their time, their experiences, their wisdom, themselves, and whether they know it or not, they have planted a seed within me that has been watered by my own actions and has become a part of ME and I am so blessed that they were willing to share.

In the matter of the last 12 months I committed my energy to my role as a yoga teacher and took an indefinite leave from my previous career as a public accountant.  This commitment gave me confidence in my presence and creativity that I had never imagined in my previous career.  This soon lead to the decision to set off on a journey outside of my home country, to a place where I had no work, lived in a community far from the ocean and far from the beauty of the community that I had left..

The challenges nearly took me over, but my inner power was held by a love I had never imagined and met with another community that empowered me to not hold back!

After I completed the first part of this blog, a close uncle has gone into a coma unexpectedly and is not expected to live past today.  I think of the few times he would share the challenges he experienced with MS, since he was diagnosed at 30 years of age.  Now at 73, he does not often travel past the four walls of his small home and most of his experiences are the conversations he has with his dear wife, his memories and a few short road trips over the years.  His restricted mobility has limited his physical experiences to what he can see with his eyes and taste with his mouth and the great intelligence he was blessed with.

I am saddened to know I may never speak with him again in this human life,  and also inspired to touch someone else as he has touched me with his courage, confidence and ‘never-give-up’ attitude.

As I share part of me, with you, I ask that you ‘Don’t Hold Back’.  Be all that you are in each moment, be confident to share what you think will be of great value to another, take each challenge to strengthen the beauty that is you.

Lots of Love,

Shantel

Yoga Teacher  www.dormanbaltazar.com