QUANTUM MOMENTS

"People always say change takes time.  Indeed, the majority of change requires commitment and daily repetition, but there are cases in which major life shift can occur overnight.  These types of instant changes come to those who are truly open to them, at times that are called "Quantum Moments."  The outcome of a QM is a Quantum Shift, which results in allowing you to change your perception of who you are and what you can accomplish.  Quantum Moments are actually opportunities to reinvent yourself." -- Gabrielle Bernstein from Add More ing to Your Life.

This is the first paragraph of the first page that I opened when I reached for Gabrielle's paperback, which has a permanent home on my bedside table, and opened towards the back of the book where I had not yet read each chapter three times over.  It was a chilly Sunday night and I was processing (ok, maybe obsessing) about an incident that had occurred just days before -- with the outcome of this said incident being that my somewhat emotionally drained and exhausted body felt thrown me up against another one of life's speed bumps.  I read the next two pages after this particular paragraph struck an emotional chord and then made the decision that I was ready for my Quantum Moment.  Ok, let me back up as to how I got to the place of a QM...

This past weekend, while I was en route to spend time with family and enjoy a long four-day weekend in the Midwest, I received an email from one of my closest girlfriends notifying me that my most recent Ex (Ex #1) had contacted her -- to say hello.  Are you kidding me?!  What right does he have to contact one of my closest girlfriends, inquire about her life, and then invite himself to a social gathering that he knows I have planned on attending for months.  Last I checked, she was the Ethel to my Lucy and had been in my life for nearly 5 years. He knew her for six months and only because she was my go-to girl for everything from brunch dates to shopping excursions to Saturday night cocktails on the town.

I felt punched in the gut, for only a moment, and then I was mad.  Not just "upset", but F-Bomb-Every-Other-Word angry!  Leave me alone, Mr. Ex.  You decided, without my input or even any real participation in the matter, to break my heart in ending a relationship that brought much joy into my life.  I get it, you have issues and needed to cut things off, but now here you are deciding to pour salt in a wound.  How dare you contact one of my closest friends only a month after I respectfully asked you to check out of "Hotel B.Dawn's Life" and not return for at least a year.  My mind swirled with hurt and anger for days -- I was reeling about how someone could be so self centered and feel so entitled to live their life with such disregard for others.

I continued to read through Gabrielle's book on Sunday night looking for answers and then I found one:  "Quantum shifts are about deciding who you want to be and then going for it. The Quantum Shift requires an open mind and deep desire to release the chains of the past.  By surrendering your past and accepting a new perception of your present--and a new perception of yourself--you''ll realize that change is available in an instant."  

In that very moment I mentally pictured cutting the chains from my shoulders, took a deep breath, and said good bye to Sean.  This person, this break up, these emotions -- they were dragging me down, and more importantly, holding me back.  I had officially hit burnout in giving him my time and energy and when I made the decision that the time had finally come to release the chains there was a tremendous sense of release -- it was incredible.  

We all have issues/people/decisions that we hold onto in our lives and allow them to swirl round-and-round in our minds.  The ego allows us to fall into this trap and we can get so deep that we don't know a way out. It's a trap that is all too familiar and more pronounced with addicts.  But Gabrielle pointed out the light in this dark tunnel -- the decision for change can be ours alone.  Is there anything chained to your back that you need to release?  Take a chance and cut it free, I can almost promise you will feel liberated in an instant.