by Lisa Cybaniak
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The Universe felt the need to push me off a cliff. Figuratively, of course! Has this happened to you? I’m talking about the times in your life when you look back and realise that for a bit before that big “thing” happened, you had signs thrown your way – opportunities to make a different choice.
But you didn’t take them. Instead, you kept making the choice to carry on, pushing those thoughts, signs and opportunities back down where no one would see them.
You simply chose not to listen, for whatever reason.
And now here you are, falling, falling, falling.
Maybe I should tell you what happened so you can understand why I was pushed off the cliff – and I’ll bet you’ll realise you too have been pushed off a cliff once or twice!
Life Before Being Pushed Off a Cliff
Back in my twenties, before the Universe pushed me off a cliff, I was a Registered Massage Therapist in Canada. When I graduated from my program, my Mum did the classic “Mum thing” and started looking in the paper for job opportunities for me.
Good thing she did because she ended finding an ad from a Massage Therapy Clinic looking for a Massage Therapist to join their team. I likely wouldn’t have found this myself either since I was living over an hour’s drive away and the internet didn’t yet exist!
It was a small office, shared with a Chiropodist (foot specialist), let’s name her Ashley. We had three treatment rooms between us, plus the waiting area and a “clean up” room – big enough to use for storage, with a sink and countertop we used to wash up between clients, that housed Ashley’s sterilising device for her equipment.
It was in a fantastic area, with very affordable rent. I mean, you’d have to be foolish to go anywhere else!
Budding Friendship
Ashley and I hit it off right away. Of course, I had to move to this new area, so she helped me search for a place to live, and then introduced me to a group of her friends. She even set me up with who would become my first husband.
In a short period of time, Ashley had become my closest friend. I was going through the last of my training to be a Reiki Master, and we’d have so many deep, spiritual and philosophical conversations. We were cut from the same cloth, her and I.
Plus, Ashley’s boyfriend was best friends with my now boyfriend, whom Ashley had set me up with.
A year into my working there, the owner of the Massage Therapy Clinic announced that he was moving on. He offered me the business for a dollar!
Living the Dream
Here I was, twenty-four years old, an owner of a Massage Therapy Clinic, doing what I loved to do, working with my best friend that was more like my sister from another mister, happily dating a great guy, exploring a new town. My whole life was ahead of me and I felt on top of the world.
Ashley and I were on the same page – we wanted to expand our businesses so we could each bring in other therapists, earning more passive income so we didn’t have to work so hard. But we only had three rooms between us. I can’t remember how we came to this conclusion now, but Ashley offered the third room to me to use as I saw fit.
We both brought in another respective therapist. The Chiropodist worked in Ashley’s treatment room when she wasn’t in, and the Massage Therapist worked in the third room.
These therapists were awesome. They got along beautifully with each other and us, fitting right in as though they’d always been there. We were a team – a team of like-minded, strong and vibrant women who were helping others, passionate about their work, and making the most of life.
The Niggles
Sure, I had many thoughts over the next year about wanting a larger space so I could have different types of therapies on offer for my clients. I always dreamed of a holistic practice, where everything a client would need to reach and maintain their optimal health would be found under one roof.
Every time I thought of it, it felt more like a Wellness Centre than a Clinic. That meant that it didn’t feel right to have it in the location I was currently in. That office building was fabulous, but it was an office building.
I started dreaming about peaceful, large rooms to run meditation and yoga classes from and to comfortably teach Reiki. Although I was dreaming about it, I didn’t speak to anyone about it. I suppose I figured that if I spoke about it out loud, someone who hold me to it – that I’d have to go out and do it. But I was comfortable where I was!
Getting Closer to the Cliff
So, each time I would have these dreams, thoughts or daydreams, I would dismiss them. I literally wouldn’t even allow myself to entertain the thought of what my Wellness Centre could be out of fear that I’d actually be inspired to do it. So, I just kept those thoughts to myself.
I suppose this was the point the Universe started realising it was going to need to be less discreet. I wonder if it knew then that it would need to push me off a cliff to get me to listen?
And then I got engaged!
Something unexpected happened when we went to tell Ashley and her boyfriend. It hadn’t occurred to me that since they had been together longer than us, that our engagement would cause her pain. But that’s exactly what happened.
Slowly my relationship with Ashley began to change. I tried to approach the subject many times, thinking that an open conversation would help us sort it out. But each time, Ashley denied noticing a change.
The energy at work shifted ever so slightly, but enough for me to notice. Of course, I dismissed it and hoped that when they got engaged, balance would be restored and everything would go back to the way it was.
Nearly Pushed Me Off the Cliff
And that’s exactly what happened. Once that ring was on Ashley’s finger, it’s like she could breathe again. But things never quite got back to how they had been. For example, we didn’t plan each other’s weddings together. Strange, for best friends.
It didn’t occur to us to have the other in our wedding parties. We didn’t go dress shopping together. I don’t even remember comparing colour schemes. But we carried on at work like everything was normal.
So, when those thoughts of the amazing Wellness Centre popped back up, I quickly pushed them back down yet again. I would have to be mad to leave such a great situation to go out on my own and risk everything. It was a big fat “NOPE” for me.
That’s when the Universe decided enough was enough. You see, it had been feeding me the opportunity for a couple years now, and I kept flat out ignoring it. I suppose the Universe figured it was time to decrease my options, force me to take notice, and throw that opportunity right into my face where I could see it. If I was going to listen, I’d need to be pushed off a cliff!
The Universe Pushed Me Off a Cliff
The office blew up. That’s right. The office I was so bent on staying in was gone. Between the fire and the water the firefighters needed to use to stop the blaze, our clinic was gone. Reduced to ash and rubble. Hello cliff.
It was 3 weeks before my wedding and 3 months before Ashley’s.
You’d think a traumatic incident such as this would bring us together. It didn’t. Before I knew it, Ashley and I were no longer friends. The strain of that fire, and the recovery from it, was too much for us to bare.
The landlord of the building had placed us in temporary accommodation in the basement of the building, so we could at least still work. But the amazing dynamic we once had in the clinic we loved, was all destroyed with that fire. I came home in tears every day, cried myself to sleep and darn near became an alcoholic from all the wine and beer I drank to help me forget the hell that had become my life.
Universe, consider me pushed off a cliff, falling to what felt like my death.
Opportunities Await Off that Cliff
And then the tiniest of thoughts about the Wellness Centre crept into my mind. Suddenly, the low cost of rent and great location didn’t matter as much. They certainly weren’t enough to counter the loss of our friendship and make up for the pain I felt everyday walking into that building.
For the first time I mentioned the idea of leaving that office, and the people in it, behind for new adventures. Normally a pessimist and reluctant to change, my then husband surprisingly thought it was an excellent choice, if not the only choice.
Within 6 months, it was done. New location, new business name, nine other therapists on board, and clients in tow. I “accidentally” found a space right on the water’s edge with six treatment rooms. I say accidentally because it hadn’t been in my price range, but a client had driven past it and brought it to my attention.
When I looked into it, they were willing to reduce the rent for me, and after crunching the numbers, I realised that I could afford it, especially with all the therapists joining me.
After moving in and crying tears of joy for it all finally being over, I was able to accurately reflect. I realised that all those little niggles of thoughts of going out on my own and having a Wellness Centre, were all nudges from the Universe.
It’s Time to Listen
You see, the Universe, or my Higher Self, was trying to show me the way, but I just wasn’t ready to listen. I didn’t want to listen because I didn’t want to lose what I had.
So, I lost everything that was tying me down to that space. The fire literally destroyed the office, but it was the loss of the friendships I had with my colleagues, and especially the loss of sisterhood I had with Ashley that did it.
Without the very things that held me to that office, I was free to see all my choices, and make the one I was meant to make.
This was my cliff and I’m so incredibly grateful that I finally listened to the Universe. In fact, it’s been such an incredible lesson that I remind myself of it every single time I get a niggle for anything. When I begin to make excuses for not going for something that I really want, I lay it all out for myself and ask, “Do you want to be pushed off another cliff?”
I Will NOT be Pushed Off a Cliff Again
I whole-heartedly believe that there are no chances, or coincidences. As far as I’m concerned, there’s two ways of looking at this story, and example.
One, I manifested the Wellness Centre, and even the negative experiences that led up to me deciding to leave, because that’s what I needed in order to have what I wanted (or so I believed). Or two, the Wellness Centre was meant to happen and for every time I neglected to listen, the Universe pushed back until it felt like I didn’t even have an option anymore.
I suppose I’ll learn one day which way is the way. But it really doesn’t matter. The lesson is the same for me either way – listen. Whatever your gut and your heart are saying to you, listen. It’s there for a reason.
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Resources
My book, Survivor to Warrior: You can change your life, covers all this and more! Access it by searching for the title in your country. Here are the links to purchase in Canada, USA, and UK.
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Voice over credit: Shari Vandermolen. Shari is offering a free download of one of her songs to the fans of the Life Like You Mean It podcast! Just visit www.GiftFromShari.com and tell her where to send it. Shari’s debut album is available for streaming on all the major platforms including Spotify and iTunes.
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