Three Things That Deeply Influenced My Transformational Journey

We often say life is a journey. What does that mean?

The definition of a journey is: to travel from one place to another, usually taking a rather long time.

Even if you stay in one town for your whole life, you are still on a continuous journey through time towards the full expression of who you are.

Meaning, that until you have taken your last breaths, you have not reached some end destination. You are still journey-ing.

Every one of us has a unique journey. Some start with what seems like an idyllic start. Others face challenges and hardships right away. Some have an uneventful childhood but face their mountains later in life. 

If each of us looked at our lives like we were souls dropped onto earth in human form to go out on our unique adventures…aaand go!

We would see those mountains and valleys differently. We would see them as part of our story of personal evolution. We would see them as necessary to become who we are meant to become.

Many years ago, I didn't have this knowing. In fact, I would have yelled BS at anyone who had tried to tell me this while I was in the throes of my difficulties. 

Discovering, uncovering, remembering, knowing…these are all key elements of the journey that leads you to who you are. 

How magical and powerful you are. 

What you are here for. 

Why we need you.

But we don't benefit from all this knowing by staying stuck where we are, in “our ways”. 

We have to be open, to learning a new way, to raising our level of awareness, to letting people in.

So today I wanted to share three things that deeply influenced my transformational journey over the last ten years. Keep reading below…

01 - Investing in myself

This week was the 6th anniversary of the first time I invested in myself.

I have an MBA that I paid for and I've bought many smaller courses over my adulthood, but this was the first time I invested almost five figures in my personal growth and transformation.

I left my baby with her Dad for the first time (as soon as I had stopped breastfeeding her) and traveled to Montreal to spend the weekend with a beautiful, wise woman who led me through a framework to help me uncover my purpose (the image above is the room I stayed in while doing the work with her). 

Since then I have invested in many programs, masterminds, and courses with each one propelling me closer to who I am, what I want, and who I want to be. Investing in myself has resulted in the highest ROI of any other investment in my life.

02 - Community and friendships

This is not the best photo 😄 but the reason we don't have a better one is because when we get together we go straight into deep conversations and have no time for photo-taking!   Our sessions end with one of us realizing how late it is and hurriedly rushing out the door after a quick round of hugs.

If you are going through a change in your life or want to change your life, having a community of women who can see you, support you, and travel down the path with you is priceless.

The two lovely women in this photo have seen me through some of my most significant transformations, not necessarily by giving me advice, but by teaching me by sharing their own lived experiences. 

You may have people in your life who love you unconditionally and have friends that you've known for years. But to step into the unknown, onto a less worn path, it helps to have new friends to journey with. Who sees where you are, but most importantly, where you are going. They know because they are headed there too.

03 - Plant medicine

I turned to plant medicine after having done a decade of therapy, read countless spiritual books, and completed many personal growth programs. I don't believe my experience with plant medicine would have been as profound if I had not already done so much work and healing. Having said that, my plant medicine ceremony was life-changing. 

For many years I felt like I was stuck in a box with an open lid. Intellectually I knew what I was capable of, but I felt tied down, unable to fly free. After my ceremony, I didn't just see what was possible, I felt it. I felt the infinite nature of our potential, how deeply connected we all are, and that everything is leading us toward our highest potential. 

To hear more about my experience with plant medicine, you can tune into this podcast episode. 

With love,

Kena ❤️
Kena Paranjape, Founder, All You Are