Ever feel like you are the only one that feels like you do?

I promise you, you aren’t.

But I get the feeling.  I have been there.

I have been there, and if I am perfectly honest, sometimes I still am.

But I know that I am not alone. 

You are not alone.

We feel alone when we think no one can understand and has never walked the road we are walking.

If I had a dollar for every time I have heard, “You two?  I had no idea!”, well I would be a very rich woman.

I believe that we would save time spent in a limiting mindset if we truly understood the power of connecting and growing with others along our journey.

Here are 3 ways that you can know you are not alone, and can join with others in community to get past this stage and start moving forward with clarity and confidence.

1.  Don’t keep it to yourself.  When we keep our struggles, pain, frustrations, or self-doubt to ourselves then we don’t see the bigger picture of others who can not only relate, but help us move forward with clarity and confidence.  Have you ever shared a struggle with someone and they have said something that instantly clicked with you?  A new perspective, a nugget of their experience that helps you in yours?  Where you leave thinking, “I am so glad we talked!”.  You are richer for it.  Me too … and I walk away glad I said something, even though I wouldn’t have planned it.  I now try to plan it.  Be careful and wise in where and who you share it, but don’t keep it to yourself.
2. Look for like-minded women.  Two things co-exist here at the same time … we just need to find the right one.  There are women who can’t relate to what we are going through, and there are women who can.  We each have had different experiences, people, and events in their lives. You are not alone in your journey, and they are not alone in theirs.  You just need to connect.  Have you ever noticed how those who have walked through cancer can have the wisdom and discernment to know how to come alongside and help those in the midst of it, or heading into it?  They know the fears, doubts, and pain, because they have been there and lived it.  A woman who has gone through emotional abuse can understand your confusion, fear, and mental overwhelm because they have been there.  An empty nester can relate to another empty nester.  They know the feeling of loss, grief, and loneliness.  I believe that events in our lives are not just events, but rather preparation.  Preparation for what we will walk through in the future and preparation and wisdom to help others.  I have a dear friend who lost her Mom to cancer and she has the unique ability to walk into a home of someone who is grieving and know exactly what will be a help without asking.  I would question anything I think would help.  She gets it – she has been there.  
3.  Use the power of community.  You’ve heard the saying, “we are better together”.  Honestly, we are. Even with different restrictions in different areas, we can connect in communities.  The power of community is why I make sure it is a part of every program I create.  The most powerful part of our vision board workshops is the sharing of big dreams and goals at the end.  The voicing who we want to be and why, is often so inspiring that it changes those listening. It is why community is part of my membership, my mastermind, and my digital course I created.  The power is in the connections, and in the sharing and learning together.  It is the, “oh, you feel that too?”.  When one asks a question in a group, there are another 10 who wanted to ask it but didn’t.  It gives a space for asking for ideas, help, or advice on something you are working through.  There are business communities, personal development communities, or faith communities to name a few.  Make sure you are plugged into one.  The communities I am plugged into have not only helped me take the next steps personally and professionally but given me connections I would not have made otherwise.  I have an business accountability group I am part of now through a community of a course I was taking, and it is now a friendship group that has chosen to stay connected.  We live in Ontario, Illinois, and New York.  We may be restricted in live meetings, but this group would not have met outside of an online community, and for that I am grateful and personally richer for it.

Let me ask you …

Where can you connect?

Who can you feel safe sharing your dreams, goals frustrations, or pain with?

How can you use your journey to come alongside others?

It is true that we are better together, and it doesn’t matter how many we live with or are around … we are not alone.

Truth is, we were never meant to be alone.  

We were designed for connection and relationship.

It’s why we feel so disconnected and lonely when we keep to ourselves.

We are better and stronger together.