by Alex Blackwell @ TheBridgeMaker
The coffee shop a few blocks from my house recently closed. On nights when I wanted to have a couple of hours to get some writing done, I would pack-up my laptop and head to this inspirational sanctuary. It never really occurred to me I would arrive one night and find it closed.
Likewise, it’s unsettling when, for as long as we can remember, we drive past the old farm house sitting on land covered with loblolly pines and oak tress only to look over one day from the car window and see it gone. Where a graceful, almost majestic home once stood has now been interrupted by earth movers and dump trucks. Our paradise has been deferred and we are uncertain of its new location.
Moments like these sting. It can feel like getting slapped in the face when you are not expecting it. The reality of knowing what we have today can be gone tomorrow can feel very harsh and uncomfortable.
Most of us like routine; we like the certainty and comfort of doing the same things each day and with the same people. This gives us a secure foundation for the times when we find the inspiration to try something new.
Living a full life takes a measure of risk and it does take courage. Sometimes having a rock to grasp when we make the decision to walk out of our comfort zones gives us the firm footing we need to go forward.
We hope the rocks will be readily available when we encounter turbulence along the way. Rocks are placed all around us. We just need to remember to look for them.
The Rock of Passion
Living a life of passion is living a life of meaning. Passion allows you to follow your heart’s desire without needing the approval or consent of others. Your passion is your centering agent and your soul’s compass. It will tell you when you are veering off course and it will tell you when the path you about to go down doesn’t help get you closer to your life’s purpose.
The passion rock helps you celebrate your uniqueness and value. When your self confidence is eroding and the thought of giving up is becoming the more likely choice, grasp the rock of passion and it will keep other people or difficult circumstances from sweeping you away.
Just like you have a genetic strand of DNA that determines the color of your eyes, you also have been given a divine strand of DNA that has predisposed you for a specific life purpose. Your passion will not betray you from living this purpose. This is the rock.
The Rock of Forgiveness
What happened in the past must stay in the past. It doesn’t define your value then, or now. The rock of forgiveness gives you freedom and helps you find the courage to live in the here and now.
To be clear, forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself; not to the person requesting forgiveness. Forgiving, and letting go of the anger, frees your soul to be able to look ahead and to dream of the things yet to come in your life.
If self-forgiveness is needed, it works the same way. Let it go, whatever it is, and move forward. Learn from the past, but don’t stay there. Allow forgiveness to be a rock in your life and you will find mercy leads to clarity, and clarity leads to inspirational living.
The Rock of Surrender
Sometimes when we want something so much we find it difficult to focus on anything else. We try; we work; we try some more; we work even harder and still nothing.
Frustration and doubt seep in and we begin to loose our patience and faith. We begin to listen to other people and doubt our now motives, or even our sanity. However, if the thing you are working so hard to achieve is aligned with your life’s purpose and is the basis for your passion, then it’s not a matter of if, only when it will be delivered to you.
During these difficult times is when you can fall back to the rock of surrender. This rock may feel like the hardest to find because true surrendering can be one of the more difficult things to do.
Think of surrendering like asking for help. You are summoning up all of your courage and faith and turning it all over to something that exists beyond you. You must then trust the divine DNA that has been placed inside of you, and wait.
The Rock of Hope
The largest rock, with perfectly- sized notches on all sides just right for human hands, is hope.
Hope is what we see when the lights are tuned off in our coffee shops when we expect them to be on and inviting us to come inside for a little comfort. We see hope in the broken earth that once supported an old farm house full beauty and grace.
We begin to see hope in ourselves when we find the will to live our passion and the mercy to forgive those who may have kept us from it in the past. We feel our lives becoming a part of something larger when we surrender and ask for a little help – for a little more hope. The sting of unwanted change that burns our face with its harsh reality is soothed and kissed by hope.
We reach down to find our rock. We grasp it tightly at first. When the burning stops we let go. We are ready to move on, again.
Elsewhere
Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind has just released a wonderful new eBook, Reclaim Your Dreams: An Uncommon Guide to Living on Your Own Terms.
The eBook presents many valuable lessons on how to get our dreams back on track. These touched me the most:
Define Your Dreams. Dreams are fickle creatures and can be hard to tie down, but with a little effort you can do it. Identifying is the first step on the way to achieving and this book will give you the tools to do just that.
Overcome Uncertainty. You probably wonder at some level whether dreams are practical or just ridiculous. You may not necessarily doubt the dream itself, but the uncertainty that comes with working towards it. You fear your limitations. You fear your weaknesses. Dreams are possible and Reclaim Your Dreams will show you step by step just how to make them take root in the world.
Wake Up Happy. While there are the elusive few like yourself who dare to dream, there are others who would seek to bring you down. You’ll learn how to overcome the naysayers and how to start being excited about your life again.
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