Is it time for you to positively pivot?

It’s Saturday night - the night before I send this letter out to you - and I’m tucked up in bed in my Airbnb in Hove, the wind whipping in off the sea and howling around the building.

I had no idea I was going to be staying here this month - it wasn’t part of the plan. But then my dad got sick and everything changed.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about that quote that goes something like, ‘God laughs when man makes a plan.’ I’m not sure if I’ve got it exactly right but you get my drift!

My main plan for 2025 had been to spend at least 9 months outside of the UK, continuing my solo travel adventures - spending half the year in Paris and spending all of January in my beloved American home from home, Eureka Springs.

But then my dad got sick and everything changed and there was no way I could leave the country, let alone the continent.

So I cancelled my plans and cancelled my bookings - cursing my decision to be a cheapskate and not book a flight with a refund option. Ho hum.

Last Sunday I went to bed and I cried all afternoon, I was so overwhelmed with sorrow and fear.

But Monday I woke up feeling renewed.

I went up to London and I went to my dad’s apartment and I restocked his fridge and did his laundry and cleaned and tidied and rearranged furniture to make room for medical equipment so that the next day he could come home - with carers coming in to look after him four times a day.

The transition home after three weeks in hospital and still seriously ill has not been easy. But my lovely siblings and I have formed a kind of crack carers commando unit - sharing out the burden between us whilst also sharing updates and much needed jokes and GIFs on our WhatsApp group chat.

some out-takes from a recent pouting contest on my sibling group chat

I’m so proud of us. And so grateful for them.

When I told my brother I was going to cancel my month in America his first response was to help me see it as an opportunity. ‘You should have a think about what possibilities being in the UK for the foreseeable future could bring,’ he suggested.

So that’s exactly what I did. And then another quote came to mind - and one that was way more comforting than the thought of God cracking up laughing at me!

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. —Maya Angelou”

And just like that, I was able to pivot positively from my original plan.

One of the many things seeing my dad so seriously ill is teaching me is that life is way too short and sweet to waste time being reduced by our circumstances.

I positively refuse to do it!

So I asked myself what this unexpected turn of events is an opportunity for and the answers came flooding in…

It’s an opportunity to spend valuable time with family and friends - people I’ve really missed when I’ve been travelling.

It’s an opportunity to spend more time in Hove, which I’m loving.

It’s an opportunity to focus on creating online writing courses - something I’ve been wanting to do for years.

It’s an opportunity to get back into coaching - something I’ve really missed.

And it’s an opportunity to learn to live with the sorrow that now comes in waves and often when I least expect it. Most recently this happened when I was using the self service check-out at the Co-Op and all of a sudden I thought I was going to cry. But then the automated voice bellowed, ‘Unexpected item in the bagging area,’ and I thought, ‘Yeah, my grief,’ and suddenly life felt ridiculously funny again.

God might have been laughing while I made my plans to go to America and move to Paris but since I’ve pivoted into my new plans I have to say it feels as if there’s been some kind of benevolent force working their magic to support me.

I had a sudden flurry of coaching enquiries via my website, which is wonderful and also means I’m not going to take such a financial hit. And I’ve found the perfect accommodation on Airbnb for all of January and February here in the UK, which means I’ll be able to go and see and help my dad every week.

So, this week I’d like to extend my brother’s suggestion to me, to you.

The end of a year is always a time for reflection and, if you’re looking back on 2024 with a twinge of regret because things didn’t quite pan out as you’d planned or hoped, how could you reframe it as an opportunity?

What new possibilities are now open to you in 2025?

How could you pivot into the new year with a feeling of positivity, and a refusal to be reduced by your circumstances?

Until next week, sending you some sparkle from Brighton where the Christmas lights are looking extra pretty.

Siobhan