The quest to discover and live our truth is the Hero's Journey - a sacred pilgrimage home to ourselves. It's the high road - and a rigorous one.
We may try to camouflage our fear of the unknown with bravado, workaholism or apathy. There is another way: following the path of the heart. How do we find it? With a transformational road map.
Step 1: Give Yourself Permission to be Passionate.
We resist change because acceding to it feels like stepping off a cliff into an abyss. Change whispers in our ear, and we attempt a high-tech tune out: call waiting, call forwarding, on hold, voicemail. Out of touch with our vital intuitive nature, we panic and crawl safely back into the shopping center mentality. We resign ourselves to retail therapy - buying the leopard skin pants because we're afraid to be the leopard.
How do we answer this call to reclaim our connection for what's true for us? We start by giving ourselves permission to be passionate, to dream beyond our self-imposed boundaries. As we grant ourselves this grace, the still small voice inside us grows stronger.
Step 2: Say Farewell
One 'symptom' of the transition is that the familiar begins to feel strange. You feel a need to distance yourself from the 'ordinary world' of others. This leave-taking needn't by physical; it can occur symbolically. In the 9 months before I left my former employer to give birth to my holistic practice, I made a conscious decision to mentally 'let my corporate life go.' This simple symbolic act freed up the enormous mental energy I'd been pouring into job frustration, which I was then able to productively channel into the launch of my own holistic practice.
Step 3: Enter the Void
Stop holding on - pry those fingers loose! Your willingness to be in free fall - to release one trapeze bar before the next has swung into view - is an essential step in restory-ing your life: looking again at the story you've created about how the world is, and seeing how this filter distorts your view of beauty - your own beauty.
The poet Rilke encourages us to "live awhile in the question." You're entering a corridor between the worlds; it's okay to not know what happens next. As you allow yourself to feel safe inside the space between who you've been and who you're becoming, the feeling of falling into an abyss will subside.
Step 4: Enlarge the Lens
Marcel Proust said "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." Look with the eyes of wonder, like a child. When children encounter the unfamiliar, they sllllooow waaaaaay dooooowwn, allowing their senses to absorb new information. Breathe deeply into the mystery. Ask yourself, how can I expand this experience?
Keep a journal. If you're more kinesthetic than visual, dance your change process. What does it feel like as flowing movement? You might also paint or sculpt your journey, or make up songs describing your experiences.
Step 5: Bless the Fear
Fools rush in, the rest of us tremble. Fear is normal. It's even valuable because it gives us something to push up against, which helps develop our spiritual muscles. That is positive resistance. Weight training for the mind. Fear itself is only a smoke screen. False Evidence Appearing Real. You can defuse it with "affirmative action." Every time I feel the fear rising in me, I take a moment to visualize the path I'm on and the steps I've taken to get to this place. Then I give myself the thumbs-up sign. This is a simple, powerful YES for success!
Step 6: Do the Work
In the Hero's Journey, this is the Initiation. Goethe said, "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." Once you commit to change, the Universe moves to support you. Begin with what is. Don't manipulate the action, discover it. Don't stop the action by saying 'but' or 'no'; instead say 'yes and' and add on to what's come before. In this way we build a story, a calling, a life.
Step 7: Take the Tests
There's no hitching a ride to self-discovery on someone else's coattails! To own your own power you must be willing to scrape your psyche on the rocky road inland. It's the only way to discover and claim your unique gift. You'll encounter tests along the way which can be innocuous or even pleasant, depending on your degree of resistance.
I saw a woman wearing a T-shirt that brings this principle home: "If you want to live life on your own terms, you've got to be willing to crash and burn." Now that's answering the call!
Step 8: Humor Yourself
We can lighten up our enlightenment. A wise woman told me long ago during a very dark period in my life, "One day you will hear the laughter and realize it's your own voice." It seemed a strange prophecy. Yet, as I peeled away the layers of false beliefs and crusty attitudes that kept me enslaved, I felt laughter spontaneously bubble up from some subterranean source, and I understood. This is who we are. Let yourself feel the joy, the light, the love inside your being.
To encourage dormant humor, play with a young animal or a child. Make up nonsense words to popular songs and walk around singing them - in public. My daughter loves when I do this!
Step 9: Be Grateful
Gratitude and forgiveness go hand-in-hand. Be grateful for all the challenging people in your life - bosses, coworkers, family, friends - because they are your greatest teachers. These relationships are difficult precisely because of your resistance to the teaching which might be about compassion, self-worth, generosity or unconditional love. we're always looking in the mirror. If we don't like what we see, we can blame the mirror or look within. The latter is the path of personal mastery and peace.
Step 10: Be the Change
Heroes know that mastering change requires daily practice. Have you ever seen the signs in public gardens that say 'Stay on the path"? The key to integrating change in our lives is to have big dreams and take baby steps. Ghandi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." It's a lifelong process of self-actualization. And it's our reason for being here.
TLC Center is Fairfield County's largest holistic health center - with over 90 Practitioner Members. From Acupuncture to Zero Balancing, TLC Center has you covered - offering private sessions, workshops, classes and events designed to support you in Total Life Care.
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