HOW MANY LAYERS ARE YOU?
By Jane Dovidio-Gagliardo
This is a great topic and one I hope will help you to gain a better understanding of yourself and life. This week’s blog is designed to help you tap into the reality of who you are and the importance of embracing every stage of your growth process so you are better able to understand your “layers,” their purpose and the power they help you to manifest.
When we are babies, our layers are new and we fearlessly and even inquisitively explore all of the newness around us. But our layers are thin and vulnerable. As we become older and more aware of our surroundings, our layers thicken. We begin to experience life’s quirks, pleasures, heartaches and heartbreaks. We come into our own opinions and develop our own unique personalities. We are loved, disliked and even hated by some. However, we eventually learn to overcome and rise above the pitfalls and perils we encounter. And as we continue to age, we develop thicker layers of life both on us and within us. Hopefully, we are able to learn enough about how to navigate along the many roads of life without losing sight of ourselves. By the time you get to be my age, know that you will pretty much look like an onion… layers upon layers upon layers have become part of who you are. So many layers covering the core of who we really are is what we have to look forward to, provided we are fortunate enough to live and grow into our senior years. But what do these layers of life really do for us? What do they do for the people we love? Most importantly how do we teach and share the best of who we have become with our youth? How do we teach, with any degree of effectiveness, how each layer of life helps us to become survivors and victors of the numerous challenges that come with human life? And most of all, how do we get the next generation to listen and, hopefully, learn?
For me, my grandchildren are the ones I want to teach, with the hope I can spare them some of the heartaches I have experienced during my lifetime. The reality is our children and grandchildren watch and follow in our footsteps. And this we must always remain mindful of. They are like sponges and observe more than I think we give them credit for. But the question is… will they use the knowledge of what we have gone through to their advantage? Well, I hope all of the aforementioned questions resonate within you and for you because what we all do and who we choose to become is important to who the generations after us become.
I do think about my own past and how it relates to what I know now. Each layer represents a phase of life that has taught us to be both strong and wise. So, let’s wear our layers proudly and not regret the lessons we have had to grow through to become better people and stellar members of the human family. Let’s proudly share them and peel them back when we need to because without our layers, we would not be the wonderful and beautiful creatures we are at every phase of our human evolution.
I hope you all have a very blessed week. I leave you with this quote; “NO-ONE IS PERFECT, THATS WHY PENCILS HAVE ERASERS.” (Wolfgang Riebe) Stay Safe. Stay Strong. Stay Fearless.
