We can understand the spiritual path as a journey to our deepest self. Many of us experience a deep longing to live a meaningful life, a life connected to something bigger than ourselves. We learn early that this is a life-long journey striving to emerge out of the dark illusion of our separateness and into the light of the soul and its truth of unity and oneness.
We are seeking to arrive at the sacred place of our true identity –that divine essence within that is our source of love and connection with everything. But, how do we get there? We get there by looking for the soul and its lessons in the ordinary and extraordinary experiences of our lives. We get there by committing to the soul’s journey and stepping on the path. Just like pilgrims throughout history who set off to journey to a sacred site, what you discover has to do with what you are seeking. What are you seeking on your life’s journey?
The Invitation: In this regular feature we explore the joys, fears, discoveries, and challenges of walking the path in everyday life. We also explore the ways in which the outer journey of preparing for and walking the 500 mile Camino pilgrimage in Spain, reflects the inner journey of awakening to and walking towards the soul within us. We hope these experiences will resonate with you as you consciously embark on your own walk towards soul awareness. Please join us! We’d love to talk with you as we walk this path together.
What Do You Want?
People pleasing and reluctance to notice what I want and risk asking for it is a learned strategy for avoiding disappointment. When viewed this way I have to bow down to the little kid in me who must have figured this strategy out long ago. It worked brilliantly to avoid major disappointment. But now that I’m older – and have the ability to look at this more deeply – I’m thinking disappointment isn’t so scary anymore. I’m thinking the risk of disappointment is definitely worth the gain of living more fully by noticing and feeling free to express my preferences.
Getting Back To Happy ASAP
I want to feel good all the time. And when I don’t feel happy – in addition to the unhappy feeling – I’m unhappy about being unhappy! I want to as quickly as possible figure out the problem, change things up, find a solution and get back to happy. This is my habitual way of processing life events. But as I bring a more mindful approach to everyday life it becomes apparent that it’s the resistance to unhappy feelings that’s the real problem. Why so much fear around feeling anything other than happy contentment?
Exploring The Truth
I’m on a kick of exploring the truth. What I’m looking at is my personal truth. I’m trying to be completely open to and honest about what I’m feeling. Does the thought of brutal honesty make you nervous? No worries. I’m not communicating to others exactly what I’m feeling! I’m simply trying to be honest with myself. Not “brutally honest”, but “lovingly honest.”
The Problem Of Instant Replay
I couldn’t escape the conclusion that telling and retelling the story was making me feel worse – every time. I had to ask myself – what is the point of retelling the story?
What Would It Look Like If It Were Easy?
My daughter and I were having a fun conversation exploring ways to approach some challenges. She threw out the question, “What would it look like if that challenge were easy?” I can’t stop thinking about that question.