Understanding our expectations around outcome are essential to address early on as they can have a huge impact on our ability manage the challenges that present along the way. If we are clear about our expectations, then it helps us to stay true to our path and not get lost in what others demand or expect.
Thank you to everyone who has offered their support and perspective. While this has been a bit of a struggle, it has provided a valuable opportunity for self-reflection and a shift in perception.
Sue’s question, ‘What happens if we don’t ever try?” asks us to plumb the foundation of our personal values and how we live our lives. It gets to what is personally meaningful and what we value and the answer is different for everyone. Shifting my perspective to that of the soul as pilgrim has helped me to arrive at a place where I can give myself permission to continue. While the walk itself is important, it is only a part of the process. The preparation matters as much as the walk itself.
I recognize that my soul is required to work through the imperfection of my personality and my body to create in the world. It knows what the ultimate accomplishment of my lifetime needs to be; most of us don’t know that clearly, at least that is the case for me. The soul is not allowed to withdraw due to fear of physical challenges, pain, shame, or failure. The soul is required to hold the purpose and direct the life process as much as possible.
So it is with how we are to live. We are presented with countless opportunities for failure and retreat. Uncertainty is always there. I don’t know where my life’s journey will end, how it will end, or what happens on the way. I just know that I have the will to live life fully, strive to express lovingly and, with the equipment I have, live as well as possible.
Most of us learn more about ourselves through failure than success. I have had lots of failures and some of them were public, but I am always changed by them. My experience has almost always been that I am treated compassionately by those who love and care about me. I’m trusting that it will be the same with this and that I will be gently held through the challenges and failures, whatever they are.
I find myself now asking what would constitute failure for me in this? I now know one of them would be withdrawing due to fear, shame, or physical failure. So what really is failure?
It’s well within the realm of possibility that we could talk about this pilgrimage for a year and then at the last minute you won’t be able to do it. Whenever a person makes a plan or sets a goal there is always the possibility it won’t work out. But is it irresponsible for you, Therese, to include this process as part of Soul Bridging programming? Hardly.
I think it’s a brave act of service to reveal the process and accompanying challenges, especially when you don’t know the outcome. Each person who contemplates walking the Camino has to come to grips with the possibility of not being able to do it. This can happen at any point – either before they go or while they are there. Some people have to cut their pilgrimage short because of injuries or illness, or because of events back home that require their return. Lots of soul searching is involved in making these difficult decisions.
Exploring the challenges you are facing in preparing for this pilgrimage will likely be helpful to others. Regardless of the outcome, there are important lessons for everyone in grappling with the process and the uncertainty. And since we’re talking about pilgrimage as a metaphor for life – well – you can see the parallels. Challenges and uncertainty of outcome abound. Like all good stories, it’s the uncertainty that keeps it interesting, right?
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