January, 2019, will be one year since I walked out of my office, and away from employment I had known for the last 10 years. After much support and encouragement from my employer and colleagues to take some time off due to stress and the evident deterioration of my mental well-being, I made a hard and uncomfortable decision to take a couple weeks off to restore my health. 

Life management can be tricky at times, and I often feel a bit of societal pressure to have a perfectly balanced life.

For many years, I taught Personal Development classes, and often talked about the importance of work-life balance - helping individuals reflect on how we prioritize these areas - how much time spent working, sleeping, spending time with family, etc. etc., and at the time it seemed like a pretty simple task.

Last week, I attended the Canadian Mental Health Association’s national conference in Montreal, Quebec. This was a conference that brought together the voices of people from various backgrounds in mental health, including Government agencies, business, non-profit groups, and course, the very important voices of individuals with lived experiences. 

Have you ever tried to do new things with the old order? I have, and guess what? Sometimes (actually lot of the times), this method does not work. I am in the process of restructuring and reorganizing my life and career, and I’m discovering that I need to refocus for where I am going, and not where I have been. 

This week I shared a post about the value in ‘taking the stairs.’ I’ve received a lot of positive comments about how that message resonated with so many. If you haven't seen the post yet, go check it out now! 

I’ve been a little quiet on the Shattered Silence platform with regard to my blogging — in fact, it’s been since January when I shared my last post about being burnt out. I’ve had every intention of blogging through my journey of healing but that small, still voice inside me had shown me the importance of listening instead of sharing. 

What I’m starting to learn (well ‘trying’ to at least), is that I have more power than I give myself. No, I’m not talking about Superwoman powers because although I ‘think’ I can do it all, I cannot.