Be Your Superhero

Hi there,Back in the day, I watched Sailor Moon everyday after school at 4PM btw.  She was a Japanese anime character with two identities. One identity was her regular life as a teenager in high school and the other as Sailor Moon, the superhero. When danger reared its ugly head, she used her inner leader to save the world. I wanted her magic pen that allowed her to change into any outfit she desired. Enough of that though..What if I told you that the only person standing in your way of your dreams is you? What if I said that the only reason you aren't making more money is you? What if I told you the only reason you are not experiencing your dream relationship is you?How do you feel now? Hopeless, frustrated, disappointed, uneasy with the decisions you've made along the way. At some point did you stop and look at your life and say to yourself, who's life am I living anyway? Is the life I've created for myself the life I want to be living or one that's expected of me?Some may argue that in order to get ahead; you need to have certain things in place before you can do that. You need money, education (possibly a Masters Degree these days), access to people who can connect you with the right people to gain access to incredible opportunities, work very hard to get the corner office on the 21st floor with a fantastic view. To experience the relationship of your dreams, you need to be skinnier, smarter, prettier, wealthier; otherwise, that person you are seeking might not consider you at all. There are A TON of preconceived notions of what you need to live life a certain way because let's face it; the world is "unfair."Want to know a secret? How many of the things you think you want, can honestly say you want that for yourself? I could bet you if you took a look at the things you want to experience in this life, it might look different than what your life "should" be.Here are some of the things I thought I had wanted before I hit 30:1. A marriage with children2. A four bedroom house3. A leadership role in a large organization4. The perfect body5. A stable substantial income each month6. A summer home7. Tons of friends who come to my four bedroom home for dinner parties with their partners/husbandsHonestly, the list could go on, but I digress. As you can see, I am not 30 (in a few weeks!), and I am not on my way to marriage anytime soon, owning a four bedroom home, having a second home, or even friends who are married! Does it make me feel sad, frustrated, and disappointed? It sure does. The "should haves" I've pointed out are all the expectations I've put on myself. These are expectations I thought I should be experiencing at my age and they are a terrible way to look at my life.It's an awful feeling to feel like you are not at a certain level of what's expected of you. And you feel as if you are kind of behind the eight ball. But everyone else is doing it you might say! So there must be something wrong with me if I don't have any of those things, right?I knew people in my earlier high school years who married in their early to mid-twenties and had made or on the way to make families. Bought a home, had a 9-5 job and took the vacation with their families once or twice a year. Every time I go to a cousin's bridal shower or wedding (and I have plenty of relatives), I always get asked where my Mr. Right is, and if I don't hurry up, it will be too late to live out my happy ending because single does not = happiness. I've also had "friends," say to me, "Ugh I am so glad I'm not single anymore, it's brutal out there." What gives people?What I am learning is that the environment in which I was surrounded by as a child was a tiny population of how the rest of the world lives their lives. We bought into the idea that life comes with a lot of shoulds and if you didn't have them, you are a failure, so you better hurry up and marry the next guy that approaches you. You also better save all of your money and buy a house at 25 because then what else are you going to do? It's all rigged by fear.I had a beautiful young lady ask me the other day if I regret not finding "The One" earlier on in my years as she too is struggling to find a partner in her early twenties. My honest answer was No. I explained to her that if I choose to settle down with any of the men I've met along the way, my life would be completely different. I also shared that I always knew I wanted more of a relationship and the prospects around at each stage of my life were not candidates who could give that to me. There was still a lot of internal work to do. Only in my late twenties have I focused on myself and my self-discovery and uncovered what I want to experience in this life. The pressures we feel comes from our family, friends, and what we see on media as "acceptable." These ideas we buy into are the only way to true happiness as it may seem from an external view.It takes the time to feel your way through the pain you've experienced as a child, to heal and to let go. It also takes, even more time to find out who you are and not what you think you are based on someone else's beliefs.You see the thing is, sometimes my Superhero emerges in conversation with people. However, my inner child has me feeling small, hopeless, frustrated, disappointed by any means. It's an internal conflict, and I am breaking it down.My Inner Superhero Goes Like This: ( I love Sailor Moon btw)Sonia, you are a force of nature, fun, flirty, magical, intuitive, authentic, connected and SEXY. You are so sure of what you are looking for, and because of that, you never settled for the first, second, third or even fourth opportunity that came your way. You have a fantastic mindset and understanding of the world in that it is abundant and there are plenty of choices and opportunities available for you. When one door closes, another door opens directing you to your hearts desires. You are mastering your intuition and taking a step back before saying yes to anything that feels less than spectacular. You've become conscious of what drains you and what excites you. You know deep down in your heart that you don't have to settle for anything based on your friends, families, or co-workers opinions. On a larger scale, you are closer to being free of expectations with the gift of flexibility in your life. You are free. You will work on a beach because you've always wanted to and it will be even better than you had imagined. You will meet amazing souls all over the world who are kind, warm, loving, safe, intelligent and whom live their lives as if today is the best day of their entire lives. You will be welcomed and invited to something bigger than yourself. You want to transform the lives of others and free them from their expectations of themselves. You can inspire the rest of the world to stand up for themselves and choose things like love, joy, freedom, happiness, connection. It is possible for you to instill confidence and courage back into the world that seems to be forgotten. You just need to be patient. The Universe will test you with shiny things and distract you along the way, and it is your job to know when to say No. Ask, and it shall be received. Your problems will be bigger and harder, and with your resilience, you will overcome each one.At the end of it all, I want someone to say about me, "She overcame all her limitations she imposed on herself and with that, showed others the way to their true hearts desires."You always have a choice. Are you going to continue with the story of being a victim of circumstances or are you going to tell your superhero story? You decide.Let me know what your story is and send me an email at sgrossi.consulting@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you and how the shoulds have been running your life.- Sonia