Helping teens and adults navigate stress and uncertainty with more confidence | Training practitioners to join the mission
Getting Yourself Back on Track:
It’s Something that Happens to You Naturally
Today’s video is about how we have a natural default to regain our balance in life when we lose it. It may not seem like it because we all find ourselves in regular waves of problems like relationship issues, financial stress, self-doubt or self-sabotage, on top of the challenges everyday life along the way.
But what I find so striking about the human condition is how our minds are in constant motion, evolving and adapting as needed.
My colleague in today’s video is a perfect example of our natural adaptability.
Mason Suehs grew up in a troubled and hostile household, was given the full range of psychiatric medications, and was abandoned by his family when he discovered he was gay.
As he reached adulthood he ended up as a heroine addict and dealer, unhoused, and ultimately spending most of his adult life in jail.
What’s so cool about Mason’s story is that his drive to find his way was completely intact.
When he lost his connection with his family he put his energy into finding and building a sense of community for himself.
While he was incarcerated he found a way to earn his degree so he could work when he got out.
He started dealing drugs so he could afford housing.
While that idea landed him back in jail, what I want to highlight was the fact that our creative process never abandons us. In fact he learned from that mistake because of that same creative process.
“Moving on is something that HAPPENS to you, it’s not something you DO.”
This isn’t to say Mason didn’t struggle or have periods of downward spirals. He had some gigantic downward spirals, like everyone has.
But he got himself back on track every time, and that wasn’t something he learned from his upbringing.
To the contrary, he had to find his own way. And he did.
I heard a saying at one point about this very thing: “Moving on is something that HAPPENS to you, it’s not something you DO.”
Every time we’ve lost our way in life, we’ve found it again. And what I’m pointing to today is that we don’t have to figure out how to move on by thinking our way there.
The ideas, as well as the strength, and courage to see them through comes to us as innate qualities we’re provided with by a force that’s bigger than us. And it’s something we can count on.
Somehow taking a moment to realize that we always find our way gives us hope, confidence, and patience during the struggle.
Every time we’ve lost our way, we’ve found it. It’s happened with every batch of problems we’ve ever had, and will happen with this batch of problems we have now.
That helps us not take the experience of being lost so seriously.
There’s a profound comfort and reassurance knowing that at some point, this batch of problems will be in your rearview mirror.
That’s what today’s video is about.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH.
You’ll be taken to Vimeo.
This video is from a conference talk I did last year in London, England at the Three Principles United Kingdom (3PUK) conference.
This year I’ll be speaking in-person at the June 2025 conference in London.
For more info on attending live or virtually, click here. Use code 3PUK2025EB10 for 10% off tuition.
erika bugbee
I’m a global coach who works with teens, individuals, couples, and practitioners that are open and motivated to change.
