SIGNPOSTS

 

When you feel like you’re on the right path and your life is filled with abundance, it’s hard to imagine that something might get in the way of your forward movement. You simply believe that all you must do is build on the work you have already done. But alas, life doesn’t run in a straight line. It zigs and zags, and then it sags in the most unexpected ways and places.

It all started last November (2022) when I joined a networking group called LINK. It opened doors for me that I could never have imagined. I met amazing women every month. And each month a new opportunity came my way. One of these opportunities was to be guest speaker at one of our monthly meetings. It went so beautifully. I thought, “This is the combination I’m looking for to get my books out into the world. It’s an opportunity for me to connect with people in a way that will allow them to really see me, know me.” My talk was informative. It was funny. It was inspirational. I was told to “Take it on the Road.”

REACHING OUT:

I reached out to a few places in town to get myself started but didn’t hear back from anyone. I began to wonder if it was a good idea to take my speech on the road after all. I mean, if three venues didn’t get back to me, didn’t that mean they weren’t interested in what I had to offer?  Even if I could get a gig, would anyone turn up? I felt disheartened.

Then I began to wonder if the answer lay in joining more networking groups. I’d had such great success with LINK, it seemed self-evident that I should simply join more networking groups. But for some reason, I couldn’t talk myself into attending another group. At least not right now. What was wrong with me? I felt so guilty – like I should be pushing myself to do more. My head was spinning. Should I? Shouldn’t I? I spoke to a couple of friends about my struggle. The responses I got back were insightful and reverberated within my soul.

RELAX:

“It sounds like you need to relax a little bit. You’re writing a book, for heaven’s sake. That’s a big thing right there. Focus your energies on that.”

It was like a switch went off inside me. I’d been given permission to relax. What a lovely thought. Why don’t I do just that? I felt my self-imposed restraints begin to loosen. My next piece of advice went something like this.

PROCESS:

“When you’ve had a lot of new things coming your way, sometimes, you just need time to process them and allow them to go deeper into your psyche.”

Once again, a light at the end of the tunnel. It really was okay to take some time out to process all the wonderful things and people that have come into my life during the past few months. Clarista Pinkola Estes, author of The Women Who Run with the Wolves calls this, “Going into the Underground.”

WHAT IS “GOING INTO THE UNDERGROUND?”:

Going into the underground is when you need time in the dark – much like a bulb that rests underground during the winter months waiting for the sunlight to appear so it can rear its head and blossom in the world above once more. It’s a time when we believe that nothing is happening, yet, in truth, something important is happening to prepare us for the next phase of our journey. We are resting from work that has already been done, waiting patiently for the signposts that will signal to us that the time is ripe to blossom once again.

TRUST YOURSELF:

Knowing that I needed to relax and take time to process all that has happened to me, has been a great comfort to me. It means that I was right to trust myself when my heart wasn’t in the right place to take the next step in my journey. It doesn’t mean that I’ll never be ready to move forward. Just not right now. When the time does come, the signposts will appear, and I will get that prickly feeling I get when I know something feels right, and by then I’ll be rested and ready to roll.

EMBRACE THE LIGHT AND THE DARK:

So, embrace the light when it shines in your life, but remember that when the light goes out for a time, you are simply taking some much-needed time to digest what life has brought your way. Rest. Process. The time will surely come when you will be ready to burst forth once again with new ideas and creations to share with the world. All is well.