Five Life Changing Questions
Krysten Lindsay Hager, YA Author
YA Author, Krysten Lindsay Hager
Krysten, a best selling young adult author, is my first guest and the inspiration for the launch of my new interview series, “Five Life Changing Questions,” after being a guest on Krysten’s blog. You can read my interview here.
Five Questions is where I ask writers, coaches, therapists, motivational speakers, influencers, and people in the health and wellness industry, five life changing questions. The five questions are on what fears and challenges they have faced and how they overcame them, and what inspires them and brings them joy? I hope reading the responses to their 5 life changing questions will help inspire you on your journey. One of my favorite Ram Dass quotes is, “We are all walking each other home.”
And now here are Krysten’s response to the five life changing questions…
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Question 1: Hi Krysten! Tell us a little about yourself?
I’m a writer, but you could also say I’m a professional daydreamer. I actually started out working in news, but have been writing creatively for as long as I can remember. I currently have a several young adult books out and I also write adult and new adult contemporary romance novels.
Question 2: What is the biggest lesson you have learned about life so far?
One thing I have learned in my life is that everything happens for a reason. I have often wondered why my life took a detour here or there, but it always comes back to my writing (my purpose) somehow. I had the opportunity to work somewhere in news that was really exciting, but I had an accident and I couldn’t pursue it and later I realized that time off resulted in me finishing a book that never would have happened otherwise. Another unexpected move left me not able to continue working somewhere else, but gave me the time I needed to finish a YA novel I had been working on as well. You never know when something that looks like a roadblock might lead you to exactly where you need to be.
Another lesson I’ve learned is that I need to align myself with the right values to keep on my path because otherwise that’s when life goes out of balance for me. I find that if I focus on that, then life “falls together” rather than falling apart and everything flows better. I have to focus on what’s holy versus what’s worldy to get a sense of peace.
Question 3: What is the biggest fear or challenge you have overcome?
I was living in Europe and had a health issue come up right as the island I was on was going through a severe weather period—basically their winters were really rough storm-wise and we were all pretty isolated. So I couldn’t go out much and my internet would go down taking the phone lines with it, so there were times I was really alone and it felt like absolutely everything I knew was changing. It was like having everything I thought made me me stripped away. It wasn’t a pleasant period, but I rediscovered a lot about myself and why I wanted to write in the first place. In a way, I became more of who I was when I was a kid instead of who the world told me I should be all those years I was a teen and my early adult years.
I remember when I first moved there this woman had told me that the silence and solitude could either work for you or it could drive you batty if you fought it. Honestly, at first, I recoiled at the thought of silence. But that whole time period was exactly what I needed to recalibrate. We all go through tough times and it taught me that it wasn’t about just pushing through to get to the end result, but about the journey along the way.
Question 4: What do you recommend to others on how to find more joy or live your best life? I always try to find ten things to be grateful for throughout the day. Sometimes it might be as simple as, “I had a really great snack,” but it always gets my mind focused on something positive. So often we focus on what we’re lacking that we don’t appreciate what’s right in front of us. I like to write down answered prayers too so I can see moments where amazing things I prayed for came into my life. That always helps when my faith feels shaky.
I’m also a big believer in being careful of what content you take in, so if I am going through something, I put on music that will help. I play something with lyrics that will comfort me where I am right now. I also take time for something enjoyable and nourishing like a comfort show or inspiring book.