Hello, my name is Sharel Siarkiewicz.
This is the first blog I’ve written so please be patient with me!
My blog: “ I can do it! No you can’t” is both a look inward and outward at all the barriers we face when we set a goal or dare to dream of anything other than what we currently are experiencing. I feel my life has been a rollercoaster of this scenerio playing over and over.
I’m a separated single mom of 2 nearly grown boys and caregiver to my disabled older brother.
At age 9 I desperately wanted a horse and the dream grew to competing at an olympic level. I spent the next 20 years chasing that dream. But, you know, “no you can’t do that!” well…that was probably true.
I also had a dream to be a wife and full time mother but this dream had to be adjusted to adapt to needs of the family. – strongly discouraged by our current modern woman’s push for their rights for equality. Please don’t get me wrong, I have benefited a great deal from having more rights than my mother did and am grateful to the years she and Uma spent raising awareness to this issue. I am not here to talk about women’s rights. I’ll leave that to another platform. But once again: “no you can’t do that” So I was/am a working mom.
At age 22 I began my post-secondary education into a bachelor of arts but soon found I wasn’t happy with my desire to be a teacher (also influenced by “you can’t do that! you will hate it!” ) I really don’t know how that dream might have come out.
So I changed directions and pursued massage therapy…..goodness…I really picked a controversial profession of that time. I was very uncomfortable telling those asking what I was going to college for..( Here in BC, Canada it was 2 years of college with medical training plus a year of college upgrades prior to starting) Once again I was told: “no you can’t do that” You’re too shy, you have to be able to talk to people. ” yes I can! ” I ignored the advice and found a very rewarding career as a result.
I started saving for retirement at age 23, working hard to build a life and home for a comfortable future… But, starting that at an early age has it’s barriers as well when those closest to you do not share the same vision. I lost my “ I can do it!” and watched what I built crumble. I spent my life telling myself: “I can do it!” All the way to bankruptcy. But that’s a complicated story. Throughout it all, I did get back to do it and still am. Perhaps some of that credit goes to my piano teacher and her little sign on top of her piano: “if at first you don’t succeed, try,try,try again.”
There’s always a solution if you look hard enough. Even at the bleakest moments in our lives….they are there. I hope my blog helps to encourage or assist anyone struggling to find their way…..YOU CAN DO IT!!!