“Chaotic family” would be how Poppy remembered her childhood environment. “My parents work really hard and because of that I put pressure on myself to do well in school in order to get good jobs and money, so I can support them”. Poppy did achieve her ambitions. She got a great job in a big company and started to climb the corporate ladder and surrounded herself with work, work, and work. There is nothing wrong with that except the work she was doing was not in line with her values and most importantly it was not what she wanted to do. The questions lingered for her- is the purpose of my life to climb the corporate ladder or am I meant to do something more meaningful with my life? What is my calling? After procrastinating for a while with different excuses, “I will finish this task first, then I will…but I think I will finish this study first, then I will…etc,”, finally she decided to resign from her job and move on, not just to a new career but to a new country completely! Turns out that was not an easy ride, but Poppy decided to choose courage over fear.
Poppy Flower: a symbol of remembrance of who stood here before us, who shaped us, and the remembrance of the hardships and the storm that we may have to experience before the sky turns blue again.
After years of adapting to a new environment, culture, and people, Poppy is now at her best and happy self where she can fully do the work that is in line with her values. She is helping others discover this life transition and transformation to become their better selves. An insightful, raw and powerful statement that struck me during our conversation was her inner journey to revisit her childhood in order to unpack how it shaped who she is today. It is about how she turned the “scars” and the so- called “chaos” at that time into unique talents that she could capitalise and build upon! That to me is self-respect – to be willing to reopen your wounds, to be vulnerable and turn that into your ally rather than enemy.
There is much more to life for each of us to explore. This may require revisiting our scars and working on that for us to move forward fully and strongly. If you too have the calling that keeps coming up consistently, perhaps it is time to pause, listen to that voice deeply and carefully. Let it emerge, draw on your inner courage, and action it. Stop putting yourself second and start putting yourself first, to acknowledge that you matter, because only when you do that can you truly help more people that matter to you.
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