There is a profoundly beautiful piece of writing by author and speaker Elizabeth Gilbert that my daughter regularly shares with our recovery community—and it is changing lives. The piece of writing is titled "Not This." In it, Liz (I kind of know her a little bit through friends, so feel I can call her that) writes about how most of us confront a moment in our lives where we are forced to admit that we have ended up in the wrong place, living under circumstances that feel wrong or even bad to us.
In that moment of realization, she suggests, we can have our "not this" moment. I've had more than a few of those moments: when I hit a bottom in my drug addiction, when I decided I had to leave an abusive marriage to live, when I realized that overworking was destroying my health and relationships.
The important thing to know, and Elizabeth reminds us of this, is that there can be space between declaring "not this" and doing something about it. Have you experienced your own "not this" moment or moments?
"Not this" is just the beginning, but what an empowering beginning it can be.