by pam | Jan 28, 2025 | Change, Coping with Change, Dealing with Uncertainty, Embracing Change, LeadinginUncertainTimes
As we step into 2025, the world feels more unpredictable than ever. Wars rage on in the Middle East, gender apartheid continues in Afghanistan, and the swearing-in of US President Donald Trump underscores a surge of right-wing leadership globally. These seismic shifts leave many of us grappling with fear, uncertainty, and a sense of being unmoored.
For mission-driven women at a crossroads, this uncertainty can feel like a call to retreat or an invitation to rise. If you’re an empath or someone deeply attuned to the world’s pain, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, as though you’re carrying the weight of these changes on your shoulders. The emotional rollercoaster of navigating fear, doubt, and hope can drain your energy and clarity.
But take heart: you’re not alone, and you’re not powerless. Understanding how our brains react to uncertainty can help us break free from the paralysis of fear. Our amygdala—the part of the brain wired to detect threats—reacts to change by triggering stress hormones. These hormones push us into fight, flight, or freeze mode, impairing our ability to think clearly, make decisions, and take meaningful action. If prolonged, this stress can harm our health, leading to burnout, autoimmune disorders, or even more severe chronic illnesses.
How, then, can we as mission-driven women reclaim our focus, productivity, and creativity in such turbulent times? By intentionally adopting practices that nurture our minds, bodies, and spirits, we can turn this crossroads into a powerful pivot point for growth and leadership.
8 Life-Saving Practices to Navigate Change and Uncertainty
- Pause and Breathe Deeply When anxiety strikes, take three slow, deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth, exhaling audibly. This simple act activates oxytocin, a hormone that calms your nervous system and brings immediate relief.
- Prioritize Daily Self-Care Begin each morning by asking yourself, “How do I want to nurture myself today?” Whether it’s a heartfelt chat with a friend, a soothing bubble bath, or a leisurely walk, honor your needs and make time for self-care.
- Connect with Nature Spend at least 30 minutes daily outdoors. Walking among trees lowers blood pressure, reduces stress, and strengthens your immune system. Nature’s grounding energy can help you regain clarity and balance.
- Engage Your Creative Side Tap into activities that bring you joy and help you lose track of time, such as painting, writing, gardening, or trying a new recipe. Reconnect with childhood dreams by exploring hobbies you’ve always wanted to try, like singing or playing an instrument.
- Incorporate Meditation Start a daily meditation practice using apps like Headspace, Calm, or guided experiences like Deepak Chopra’s 21-day meditations. Even five minutes of mindfulness can help you reset and cultivate resilience.
- Get Adequate Sleep Prioritize rest by aiming for at least eight hours of sleep each night. If you’re feeling particularly drained, experiment with going to bed earlier, ideally before 10 p.m.
- Clarify Your Priorities Reflect on what truly matters in your life and work. Create an action plan to align your daily efforts with these priorities, and release commitments or relationships that no longer serve you.
- Practice Mindfulness Integrate mindfulness into your day by savoring small moments—whether it’s enjoying your morning coffee or fully focusing during a meeting. Being present helps you navigate challenges with grace and intention.
Embrace Change as a Catalyst for Growth
Uncertainty doesn’t have to paralyze you. By adopting these life-saving practices, you can reclaim your power, stay grounded, and turn life’s crossroads into opportunities for purposeful action.
What strategies have you found most helpful when navigating intense stress and uncertainty? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
For more insights and tools, download my free “Art of Change Framework”—a 5-step process to help you embrace, rather than resist, change—at pamela-thompson.com.
by pam | Jan 19, 2024 | Change, Dealing with Uncertainty, Life Transitions
Are you feeling adrift? I so relate!
The American Heritage dictionary defines adrift as:
“1. Drifting or floating freely; not anchored
2. Without (clear) direction or purpose.”
Here’s how I’m feeling adrift. I’m sleeping more than 9 hours a night. I feel low energy, particularly in mid-afternoon. I’m feeling overwhelmed by the number of emails in my inbox even though I’ve unsubscribed to many and now have two less email addresses to deal with. I opened up space for more creative projects, and in spite of knowing what my next book in general will be about, I haven’t yet started writing it. Even though my phrase for this year is “Playful Creativity”, I’m being challenged to be playful or creative. My passion and zest for life seems to have gotten up and run away.
I’ve been coaching people going through a variety of life transitions individually and in groups since 2009. My inner critic is saying: “You teach people how to navigate life transitions and have a 5-step Art of Change Framework”, don’t you know how to navigate this transition with ease, grace and playfulness?”
You’ve likely heard the phrase, “we teach what we most need to learn”. As someone whose gone through many personal and professional transitions, I am STILL learning.
I recently handed over the leadership of a national non-profit I founded. It is now led by two amazing women leaders, and I feel like I did a good job handing it over. For example, I facilitated the strategic plan for the next three years with the Board, and the one-year operational plan for this year. I’ve worked collaboratively with my Board since launching the organization and left a very strong Board who work well together. I thought I was clear on the next steps in my personal and professional life, yet I am still feeling adrift.
Is anyone out there feeling similarly or have you in the past? If you are or have in the past, I welcome your thoughts and comments below.
About 7 years ago when we moved and did a massive downsize, I wrote about that journey and shared it in my blog- https://old.pamela-thompson.com/culling-again-yet-another-learning-experience/.
Would you be interested in me sharing this current transition journey and the lessons learned along the way?
by pam | Dec 5, 2023 | Burnout, Health & Wellbeing, Inner Peace, Preventing Burnout, Proven strategies
This is the second in a series of personal reflections on what has changed and what remains relevant since I wrote “Learning to Dance with Life: A Guide for High Achieving Women” ten years ago.
In “Learning to Dance with Life”, I coined the term “Creative Living”. It is defined as “the conscious cultivation of improved health, happiness, fulfillment and inner peace in your life (p. 35).” In today’s world of constant change and much conflict and strife globally, Creative Living is more important than ever. Having tools and strategies to ground us and help us respond from a place of inner peace and understanding rather than conflict and reactivity, is so needed.
I also identified seven keys to Creative Living which I believe continue to be important to help us prevent and heal from burnout, and live a life of radiant health, happiness, fulfillment, and inner peace. The seven keys are:
- Listen to and trust in your body’s wisdom
- Tap into and express your creative side
- Consciously create right and left brain-body balance
- Live in alignment with your core values
- Believe that you are here to make a difference
- Learn from and embrace life transitions
- Find inner peace, and build peace in your family, friends, community, workplace … the world.
There is also now more documented evidence supporting each of the seven keys.
Based on some feedback I received in the past, I’m not certain that some people understood that Creative Living and the seven keys associated with it, supported me and others to heal from burnout. I know for certain that integrating these seven keys and the proven strategies and powerful practices associated with them, together, have enabled me to heal from the inside out and to live a life of improved health, happiness, fulfillment, and inner peace.
In the book, I identify seven elements of Creative Living. They are:
- Body wisdom
- Creativity
- Balance
- Core Values
- Beliefs
- Life Transitions
- Inner Peace.
“The elements may be likened to seeds that germinate when nourished with sufficient water, food, and warmth. The “work that we do around each seed, enables us to cultivate a unique garden of health, happiness, fulfillment and inner peace (p. 36).” I stand by this statement and am living proof of it.
How about you? Do you relate to all or any of the seven keys and elements above? I welcome your thoughts and experiences below.
by pam | Nov 6, 2023 | Celebrating, Feminine Leadership, LeadinginUncertainTimes
When was the last time you truly rewarded yourself for a job well done? In my former life of driving and striving, I would complete something on my list, check it off and get on with the next thing. I didn’t take time to celebrate.
Recently I handed over the leadership of a national non-profit I founded about three years ago to two extremely capable women. I feel so blessed that they said yes to taking over the reins. Founding and running a non-profit is similar, to starting up and running a business. You need to generate revenue, identify who you are serving and provide them with products and services that meet their needs. As a leader, it is important to create a team that works well together and inspire them with your vision and mission.
When I founded Female Wave of Change Canada – https://fwoccanada.com on December 7, 2020, it was part of a commitment to the global body Female Wave of Change – https://femalewaveofchange.com to create a legal entity to build the community and grow the movement across Canada. We believe that feminine leadership holds the key to creating a better world; a more conscious, equitable, just, sustainable, and peaceful one. From the outset when Ingun Bol, the founder, invited me to be Ambassador for Canada of Female Wave of Change, I felt the passion and alignment to their philosophy and values. The fact that Ingun did not provide a model of how the community “should” be grown was another thing that attracted me. The opportunity to create something new and inspire others to believe in our mission and vision and truly model the attributes of a feminine leader appealed to me. Such attributes include: authenticity, inclusiveness, collaborative, emotionally intelligent … (explained in more detail here: https://old.pamela-thompson.com/why-feminine-leadership-holds-the-key-to-creating-a-world-that-works-for-everyone)
In this constantly changing and uncertain world we live in, how many of us take the time to really listen to what our heart and gut are telling us? Perhaps that is one of the benefits of aging. When we are younger, we may set goals and pursue careers based on what others are telling us we’re good at. As we age and hopefully become wiser, we really don’t care much about what others think and gain more clarity about what will truly bring us joy.
I knew more than six months before I mentioned to my Board that I needed to hand over the leadership and that my passion was starting to wane. My heart and gut were telling me that it was important to open up some more space to be creative; to write that next book, to start painting, to be open to other possibilities, whatever they might be. For awhile, I was afraid to announce to the Board my intention. However, when I said in early May of this year that by the end of September, I wanted to hand over the reins, I was extremely clear. I had also considered that if no one came forward that I would have to potentially shut down an organization that I had poured my “heart and soul” into. Having that clarity, I believe assisted me and the Board to decide on a Co-Chair model with two women leaders sharing the responsibility of moving the organization forward with the support of others on the Board. It is also a beautiful way to model collaboration, one of the attributes of a feminine leader.
I’m proud to say that we have a strong committed Board and a core of paid members who attend our monthly virtual gatherings with featured guests on a regular basis. We have also co-created a “Mother Earth Ambassador Program”; an experiential outdoor education program for girls ages 9 to 12 that teaches them about Mother Earth, the Mother Tree, and how to become Mother Earth Ambassadors in their homes, schools and communities. More details here: https://old.pamela-thompson.com/how-mother-nature-the-mother-tree-and-feminine-leadership-intersect-a-unique-program-empowering-leaders-of-the-future/. The first cohort of the program is happening in Metchosin, BC on Vancouver Island and is scheduled to finish in early December. We are currently seeking partners to implement this program across Canada and beyond. Feel free to reach out if you and your organization is interested in that possibility by emailing me directly at pamela@femalewaveofchange.com.
If interested in learning more about Female Wave of Change Canada I invite you to explore our website: https://fwoccanada.com and register to attend one of our virtual monthly gatherings that typically happen the third Wednesday of every month from 4:30 to 6 pm Pacific/7:30 to 9 pm Eastern.
So, how did I reward myself? I planned a three-week vacation in Portugal and invited a dear friend to join me. We had a blast! How will you reward yourself and celebrate your next achievement?
I welcome your thoughts and comments below.
by pam | Apr 25, 2023 | Change, Coping with Change, Life Transitions, Managing Change
“I invite you to join me on the journey back in time where I share key life transitions and lessons learned along the way. It is my hope that you will glean some new insights, better understand yourself and others, and realize you are not alone.”(The Exploits of Minerva: Reflections of a Sixty-Something Woman, p. 4 – https://old.pamela-thompson.com/books)
Minerva is a playful and sensitive woman in her mid-sixties. She believes that life is an adventure to be lived to the fullest and lives her life according to that mantra. Minerva has experienced numerous life transitions including divorce, finding the love of her life, burnout, living and working on five continents … . She learns valuable lessons and gains support from her women’s circle that she meets with every two weeks. The five women in the Circle have been supporting each other through a variety of life transitions for over two decades. They share their raw and real stories in this part-memoir, part self-help guide.
To help you reflect on your own journey and those of other women in your life, I’ve created a series of questions. They are intended for discussion in a book club. That said you may also use them to learn more about yourself and other women in your life who are similar to the characters in this story.
Potential Book Club Questions:
- What characteristics draw you to Minerva, if any?
- Which experience or experiences of Minerva do you most relate to and why?
- What is Minerva’s main struggle? What does she have to learn to overcome and deal with internally?
- Of the other women in the Women’s Circle, which ones are you drawn to and why?
- Do you feel you have a better understanding of certain life transitions after reading this book? If so, which ones and why?
- Reading “The Exploits of Minerva” has … ?
- Would you recommend this book to others? If yes, who and why?
I welcome your comments and responses to these questions below.
