We understand that sometimes we may not have much wiggle room in life. The “options” before us don’t appear to have many ‘options’. We go forward or we turn around and go backwards. It gets to feel like a black or white decision. We take one, or the other. We pass or we fail.
Change can be a hard pill to swallow, because it often depends on how we approach change itself. Yet, even the seemingly straight and narrow can make us confused. Let’s say there’s a distraction on one side of the only choice that we have before us. That distraction is often called fear. It’s an emotion we’re all aware of, even when we don’t call it by a more specific name.
What IF you were able to take a few deep breaths and focus on shifting how you feel? How might you do that and what would you want it to feel like? What feeling would you switch to and how would you go about defining it? If you were helping someone else get over the very hurdle you face, what would you say to him or her? Can you use your internal sense of wisdom to help yourself too? I know, the answer is a resounding “no” all too often. We’ll get back to that in a minute.
Now, have another look at the picture above. Could you choose to look at it as a fun and adventurous path, embossed with color and symbols? Maybe the narrowness can be seen as a challenge that makes you determine you’ll get to the end where all the light…
We often need someone else to guide us down our own winding paths. We may want someone to encourage us to look at a situation from a different perspective or lens. Perhaps if we would sit still, more often than we do, we could name what’s behind how we feel. And, then we could use the driving force and power of our feelings to create a new way forward.
Yes, it’s doable. And although we have the power within us to make those changes and bravely choose a different pathway, we sometimes need to be reminded that we can change course.
Of course, you’ll have your good days along with the not so good ones. Don’t feel bottled in and certainly remember that no matter how confined things may look, there’s a way out. Look, there it is… you can make it.
Attend to how you feel, make whatever adjustments you must, get help if need be. Look back at your map and just keep going.
