Changes in our life offer just two paths

There must be something going around.  Over the last month many of us are having big changes enter into our lives…  sometimes quite dramatically.  We humans aren’t well known for liking all this change.  But like it or not, if it is here it is here.  It might feel like much is out of your control right now, but what is in your control is how you choose to deal with things that are coming your way.  When change enters our lives we are being offered two paths: a path of growth into greater resiliency and meaning or a path of deepening habits that are not helpful.

If you are also experiencing big changes rolling through, remember that this is an opportunity to experience significant growth in ways that will lead to greater comfort and a deeper understanding of who you are in the future.  But like all rapid growth, there will be growing pains.  When unexpected change comes into our lives we are being invited to let go of all habits that are no longer working for us, and letting new habits grow in their place.  This invitation requires a leap of faith as you jump into the void.  You will need to make a jump into the unknown BEFORE growth can happen.  It can be no other way.  I see a lot of people right now trying to see what is ahead before they move forward, holding on to old habits and patterns like a life preserver after they have been thrown overboard.  Only you aren’t holding onto a life preserver.  You are holding onto the anchor.  You’ve got to let go before you can find new land.

Setting your intentions can help as you practice letting go of what needs to be let go, so that they new growth can have the space to come in. Here are my suggestions for you. Have patience — you can’t rush growth in yourself any more than you can rush growth in an oak tree. Have trust — it can feel scary to shed old skin, but know that letting go ALWAYS has to come before new growth can come in, and so there is ALWAYS a time of uncertainty but that time will pass. And if you can, have a sense of humor — life often has a funny way of bringing change into our lives. Often the ways we are being invited to grow have a poetic edge to them, a wink of knowing that you are being invited to do the very thing you have been most afraid of doing. You’ve got this. The key is to relax and let things unfold as they should, without pushing away the discomfort or pushing ahead unskillfully. Your mind will make stories about what these things mean, but as you are always being invited to learn, minds make up stories about a lot of things and 95% of the time your mind gets it wrong because it is just talking from your fears and insecurities.

This I can promise you: Your mind does not know the way. You can can stay skillful with this new invitation for growth by staying present and living within your heart as you start out on your new path.

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