One can only hope that as we get older we get wiser, we narrow down our focus to what really matters and spend time learning, questioning, and challenging our thoughts and beliefs. To take the wisdom of age and weave that into an experience can be quite profound and powerful. As we navigate our lives and integrate our vision and goals into life decisions we are often asked to make choices that are difficult and not straightforward. How can we become comfortable with uncertainty? Be quiet enough in our mind to hear the voice deep inside, to believe that the answers are already there. What is your gut telling you? If you allow the silence to come in and sit with uncertainty your voice can be heard. Surrender to the silence, to the inner voice and believe in the process. To discover this you need to let go of the "what if's" of the "shoulds" of the expectations, the fear and the worry. Just sit and feel the calm, give into the fear and surrender.... believe. You will be OK. Let it all go and allow yourself to be vulnerable and feel whatever comes up.
Two years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. A scenario I had never run in my mind. I am young, healthy, and had very few risk factors yet, here it was. The opportunity of choice is always paramount. How will I look at this experience, how will I use this moment to shape my life, what do I want to learn? These questions and many more invariably go through your mind but here is what it came down to. Do I choose to grow from this experience and surrender to the process? Feel the emotions, the fear, and live the process. Allow this experience to take you on a path of understanding. Don't fight it and ask "why me", ask what can I do to elevate myself to this experience. I find we spend so much time trying to mold life into what we want and imagine, like a hard ball of dough, grimacing under the back pressure but confident that if we just push harder and twist further it will all come together. I have come to find that is just not the truth. To have the confidence and faith that we are part of something bigger. That these lessons or barriers to our self proposed goal are maybe trying to tell us something. Imagine that! How many times have you heard people drastically changing their life after having a traumatic event? Why are you waiting for a traumatic event? Relax into the process and try letting go of the control.
My mom has said some very wise things over the years and one is, "Your lessons will get stronger and stronger until you choose to listen." Think about that, how many times have you repeated the poor decision and how each time the consequences have gotten more clear and painful. Here is the thing... you already know the answers; you already know what you need to do the first time you encountered it. The trick is to have the confidence in yourself to listen at the beginning and surrender to the experience.