Dear friend,
Summer has come to an end, clearing the way for autumn. How are you embracing the change of seasons?
What are you celebrating and letting go of?
Maybe it’s time to reframe what hasn’t served us, to shift toward the beautiful experiences that await as we continue to engage with life.
September 7th, I woke up with mixed feelings of sadness and celebration. It was the 17th anniversary of my cancer diagnosis. I am grateful to have had the honor and privilege to witness and support my two sons Mahdi and Kazim from ages 1 and 3, when I was diagnosed, to become the incredible young men they are today.
I experienced the sadness of letting go, and a celebration of opening of the eyes through which I viewed the world. Through the brute force of life 17 years ago, the opportunity to challenge my way of being in all realms took place over 10 months as I went in and out of hospital to receive treatment.
Reconsidering the basics was essential to begin the process of shifting my state of being.
The following questions emerged:
“What I eat, is it serving me?”
“What I drink, is it serving me?”
“How I move, is it serving me?”
“How I sleep, is it serving me?”
“What I think, is it serving me?”
“What I feel, is it serving me?”
“How I speak, is it serving me?”
“What I do, is it serving me?”
With a blank piece of paper and a beginner’s mind, I started to truly engage these questions. I was shocked to see the gap between my perception of my day-to-day life and the reality. It was time to reconsider what was clearly not serving me. I reached out for support to make the necessary changes to start living a life of possibility again. I am still a work in progress and my loved ones will chuckle as they reaffirm this. I have a long way to go, but I feel blessed to have been shaken to my core to wake up to the gift of life.
I would urge us all to continue asking the above questions so we can move toward living a life that’s in alignment from a physical, mental-emotional and relational perspective. I am excited to experience what the new season has in store for us all.
This is the first of what will be a series of personal letters written from my heart. In these
letters, I’ll also be curating resources for you that I personally find impactful.
I hope that they will do the same for you.
Love,
Feisal