When we begin, we can be certain that we will arrive somewhere. We may not know where until we get there, and whether we have a map or not, there will surely be detours that will lead us down winding roads, adding length and adventure to our journey.
Some of these detours may be pleasant surprises, others unwelcome delays or even tragedies. You can be assured that whatever the path looks like, it is drawing you closer to where you are destined to be.
We are unable to see the full picture of our lives – we are too close and everything is still unfolding. Perhaps no choice we make is a mistake. Perhaps each and every path we walk is part of the destined greater picture.
Perhaps life is like a maze, with times of moving forward and times of hitting walls and needing to back track, retracing beloved scenery and painful moments, learning more each time we cross familiar ground.
To be certain, whatever the path we take in life, and whatever goals we have set for ourselves (the seeming end of the maze), we never know when and how it will end and so the only sensible choice is to enjoy the journey.
Act as if each moment is that sacred end. Live your life in such a way that whenever it comes to an end, whether you reached many of your desires or were still in pursuit of them, you can think fondly of the journey.
Life will give us moments of upset, of pain, even of great despair. That is a fate none of us can avoid. We are more capable than we may believe in getting through these times – not merely getting through them but discovering a deeper part of ourselves in the process.
Have you ever been hit so hard by tragedy that time itself seems to slow down? You can almost see yourself, as if out of body, responding in a calm way, even when your brain is shouting what the fuck over and over as loud as it can? Somehow, methodically almost, you do what needs to be done. In doing so, you learn a deep truth about yourself.
No matter how hard life gets, no matter what it sends your way, no matter how tragic the detour, within it you have the capacity to find love. You have the power within you to continue taking steps forward and not getting yourself stuck, which could lead to others getting stuck as well.
You are so strong and so brave and these moments, the most painful detours of all, teach you that. Sometimes you do not realize that for quite some time, years or even decades. Sometimes you feel stuck, mired in this place of despair. I promise while you are there you are learning important lessons, so take notes. They may be your directions one day when you reach another fork in the road.
Always search for love, as if a beacon that will guide your way. Imagine deep within you, emanating from your center, this tiny but impressively strong light. It shines out of you guiding your way. It never goes out. If the light seems to have dimmed, it has gotten covered over and dusty. Dust it off, clear the cobwebs, remove all of the junk and gunk surrounding that sacred light of yours, and let it guide you once again.
That is what it is there for – to shine the light, to illuminate the path as you travel. The brighter the light shines, the less power the rocks and holes have as you can, with awareness, see them and more easily find your way around them.
Trust the journey more than the destination you have set in your mind for the destination is not solid. It is ever shifting as you grow, as you make discoveries along the way, as you shine your light so brightly that you begin to see within the crevices the nuances that you never noticed before and you begin to see how important they are as part of you. They make you who you are and as you discover more of them, you come to better understand yourself.
Then, with love and compassion, you begin to be able to take all that has come before and integrate the wisdom it has given you. This is how you live. This is how you step into Sacred Becoming.
You begin to live with the awareness that each moment on the path has given you some gift even if you could not unwrap it and see it for what it was at the time. A gift. It may pain your heart to see it that way. You may wonder why a gift must sometimes come wrapped in pain and sorrow. You may keep wondering though the answer might be forever out of reach. Take each gift and and see that it is always about appreciating the process, no matter the endpoint.
With Love and Gratitude,
