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Claire's (or Susan's) Story
This is an extract from Fiona's latest book, Reinvent Yourself. Claire is a pseudonym used in the book for Susan, whose story in her own words you can read here.
Sometimes you have to go back to the past to create the future.
Reclaiming your original spirit may be the key to a new life, and a fresh ‘new’ you. Sometimes the only way forward is to retrace your steps and recapture the you that got left behind years before you gave in to the pressures of life and time or just accommodated yourself too often, too much. Your spirit can get worn down over the years but if you were feisty once, you can be feisty again and always. It’s never too late to rediscover yourself.
Claire came to see me as a last resort. She had seen therapists and been on Prozac for a year. She felt she was wasting her life and her future looked empty. She was right on both counts. She was approaching 40 and, though Scottish, had been living in Nice for the past five years due to her husband’s high-flying career.
She’d done a great job of raising her children but at 13 and 15, they were increasingly independent. She had moved around Europe since she married with much of her time and energy going into accommodating the requirements of her husband’s career; making each move as smooth and stress free for the family. She had moved around enough. Meanwhile, her husband was itching to move to Paris. This was the point at which she came to see me.
With her notes, she emailed me a photo of herself. I was quite shocked. Here was a beautiful, vivacious young woman, effortlessly stylish in that European way. I could see she was no wimp. Yet she lived like one. It was obvious she had lost sight of who she really was, left her behind during one of her many moves. Sure enough, when we spoke and I put this to her, she immediately agreed and gave me all the evidence I asked for to prove that she was a plucky girl, through and through. Before giving up work she had held down impressive jobs in her native Glasgow and longed to be out in the world again as a player. That drive had never left her.
My work with her was to get her back to the Claire of about 15 years previously, the real Claire. Over the weeks ahead, I continually challenged and pushed her to remember who she was and behave accordingly.
This meant standing up to her husband to assert that she and the children were happy and settled where they were and she would not contemplate another move until at least after they had finished school. He accepted.
She then enrolled on a Fitness and Personal Training course along with Nutrition, which she passed with flying colours. This was a true passion for her as she had relied on exercise to lift her depression over the years. She had experienced for herself its power to lift her mood and improve her self-esteem.
She has set up a small, exquisitely arranged personal training consultancy right in the heart of Nice and also offers a shopping and styling service. Business is good. She’s happy and the future is fabulous and unlimited.
She no longer lives the life of a wimp, but the life of a beautiful, vivacious, plucky girl. She’s simply being herself.
Extracted from "Reinvent Yourself"
