Now that you have thought about ‘Who You Want to Be’, how about we start thinking about ‘How You Want to Get There’. Becoming the person you are meant to be is a journey and it starts with simply BEing. Being you, the best version of you that you can be. That may sound easy but I can assure you, and I’m sure some of you would agree, it is challenging at times. Being a great version of yourself often times means walking in the opposite direction to where your heart, mind or maybe even your temper wants you to go. It’s taking time to relax into yourself and finding the space to allow you to get to know yourself. Did you know that most people don’t allow time to really get to know themselves? It’s true and we all need to find out what we like, what we don’t like, what colours or even food we like. What music moves us, how art impacts us and how others impact us. Sadly, because we don’t do this, many people begin to believe things about themselves, simply because someone once said something about them or to them. I once heard a story about a young boy in year 3 who loved to sing. He loved his music class and looked forward to it every week. On one particular day, his teacher decided to tell him that he couldn’t sing and he sounded awful. Now, was the teacher in a particularly bad mood that day? Did she have a flat tire on the way to work or perhaps a morning fight with her other half? Who knows what happened that day to cause that teacher to say such a thing. The result, that young boy is now a grown man with teenage daughters and he never sang again. Now, in his adult years, he attends church regularly yet through the singing/worship time he simply mouths the words or shifts from side to side. You see, he believed what was said about him and it held him back or changed something within. Who knows, he could have been the next great writer of our time. Alas, we will never know.That story saddens me. Yes, we can write it off and make excuses and explain away how that little boy could have walked over those words. It’s true, he could have but he didn’t. My point with this and the reason I share it is to say that in order to become who we want to be we have to get there. As I said in the beginning of this article the ‘getting there’ is the hard part. It means silencing the voices around you and daring to walk into the unknown. It means not following the crowd but blazing a new trail. It may mean taking a few risks and trusting that ‘still small voice’ that you can hear from within. It means taking time to pause and let your core breath and stand up on the inside. It means everyday taking steps towards the goal of ‘who you want to be’ and the steps might be scary and challenging but it’s about taking them and ‘doing it scared’, knowing that the outcome is worth it. I encourage you to take some time and really reflect on your own life and who you want to be and how you want to get there. Be brave enough to change what needs to be changed and to embrace what needs embracing. As you do this, look at your children and see how you can influence their walk of freedom. Free to be the best versions of themselves they can be. What an extraordinary place to live from. Much love, Susanna