One of the reasons we keep our lives so complicated is so we won’t have to listen to our inner voice telling us what we need to do to make our lives work better. –Elaine St. James
I am unable to tell you how many times I have kept myself from living the life that I truly desire. Oh, I can be really good at putting road blocks in my way to either slow down or halt my desires.
One of the visions that I have is that I’m walking down a pebbled filled path, there is green grass on either side with fields of grain further back waiving in the breeze. The path is winding (because why would I want to go down a straight path?) and as I walk along it, there are bigger rocks in the path. For the most part, I can step around them, sometimes I end up kicking them to get them out of the way.
Oh, and sometimes? There is a boulder in the way, which stops me in my tracks. Many times I stop, scratch my head and wonder how I will get past it. I’ve even been known to lean against the boulder and believe I cannot go on. I can be a drama queen and I am the BEST one there is!
After a period of time, determined by how long I’m willing to stop moving forward (which isn’t long – meaning, it could be an hour to a couple of years depending on the challenge) I start to look at what the boulder actually is. I take the situation a bit deeper and actually LOOK at what it is that is holding me up.
It is always my thinking and my beliefs. Realizing this boulder can be broken down to more manageable ways, to be able to realize that I get to move forward because I choose to. I see the boulder for what it is, simply a learning opportunity.
Keep in mind, the pebbles and rocks were learning opportunities for me also. I learn some of the lessons but other times I kept myself so busy that I didn’t make time to acknowledge them, I chose not to quiet myself long enough to see situations as opportunities.
Sometimes in our lives, our health begins to falter, and we ignore the signs (pebbles), then we may do a little something to take care of ourselves but then we get busy and we don’t take time and find that we are being forced to rest (rocks), so when we haven’t received the message that something needs to be addressed and a major health issue (or relationship or other issue) will arise (boulder).
I had this happen. I had lower back issues in my late 20’s. I chalked it up to having babies and that it was part of life. My back issues were chronic. I went through MRIs, physical therapy, lots of ibuprofen, pain pills, resting and elevating my legs to reduce the pressure. Life continued on and my health continued to deteriorate. It was the mid 2000’s and I found my back went out while sitting at work. You may ask, what does “went out” mean? I was in so much excruciating pain that I had problems getting up from the chair. Did I take time off from work? Oh my? You are silly to think that way! How could they survive without me? I also didn’t want to admit that I would need to actually look at what was causing the pain. I just wanted a pill to take care of it. When I got to the point that I was using a walking stick to get around I had to admit I needed to do something a bit more. I was only 46 at the time and having all the health issues. The back issue was just one area, I was also on three different pills for anxiety and depression. My anxiety at times would fly off the charts and even with the three different pills I had times I was challenged in day to day functioning.
All of this was happening prior to having Reiki come into my life and really living a much more awakened existence. Looking back now, I understand that I was trying to hold up the responsibilities of the world. My back couldn’t take it. I had convinced myself that I had to be everything and I had to be the PERFECT at everything. Talk about setting myself up for failure!
Finding the quiet was not easy, but oh so worth it! Simplifying my life is the biggest step I took. I continue to simplify yet today. I’m always amazed that every time I clean and organize that I end up finding things that I no longer need or want and donate them. I also am aware that I have the choice to fill my time with things/activities or simplify them.
What can you do today, that would simplify your life? What ways do you choose to allow the quiet to enter into your life? Take one step, pay attention to the pebble…you get to allow the abundant life you desire!
