Turn Your Shit into Service to Write a New Story

Every single one of us has our stuff. Shit happens. Sometimes we create it, sometimes we come up against it. Any time something happens that is challenging, scary, filled with uncertainty or unpleasantness, there are a few choices: complain, try to change it, use it to our advantage.

I am all about leveraging experience. If we're going to go through something, why not grow through it?

Recovery teaches us that the power of perspective is huge. Our mindsets are one of the greatest resources we have. Just as incredible is our association. When perspective and community combine, we can be unstoppable in living by our values and making waves in the most meaningful ways.

When life is tough, when surprises come and threaten to take us off course, when shit happens, we can be taken down or use it to lift another up. Turning our story  into service to another brings meaning and purpose into what might otherwise seem like punishment from the universe.

I recently had a few days of pretty dark thinking. I felt pessimistic, impatient, a lot of judgment and self pity. It was a recipe for disaster and depression. I was in my own shit. After day two, it crossed my mind that I could stay in this for a long time if I let myself. This shit, these circumstances, all these emotions weren't going to magically disappear. They weren't going to change on their own, it was my job and opportunity to change the way I was interacting with what was.

Synchronistically, I got a message from a former client who was going through a very similar dark day. I let this flip me into a different mode, one of service and connection. I got out of myself and told him I was in a similar place! I got real, I didn't hide my feelings or pretend I was feeling on top of the world. I shared my shit and asked him if he wanted to be one another's accountability to create some changes in ourselves and hopefully see our experiences differently. 

I turned the shit, being in my stuff, feeling low, into service. I connected with someone else and tapped into my ability to show up for them while showing up for myself at the same time. Service is the great transformer. Giving our attention and affection to others, offering support and sincerity, turns every experience into a wise teacher. 

The next time you're going through it, look at how you can share what you're going through with someone else and watch connection blossom. The shit turns into manure when we take the eyes off ourselves. Change the story and change your life, maybe someone else's, too.