It is safe to say, for each of us, our journey through life began with observation and uncertainty and not a great deal of self-awareness. With the addition of life experiences such as consequences emerging from personal choices, we may have made the connection between cause and effect. If so, likely we gained greater awareness of who we are and the kind of life we most wish to live.
I found that every single successful person I’ve ever spoken to had a
turning point and the turning point was where they made a clear,
specific, unequivocal decision that they were not going to live like
this anymore. Some people make that decision at 15 and some people
make it at 50 and most never make it at all. Brian Tracy
Having more than once echoed the same declaration, I can vouch for Brian Tracy’s understanding of turning points. What I am less willing to accept is his supposition that “most” never make the decision to choose the life they most wish to live. I am not certain of any statistics to support or negate Tracy’s claim, and it just may be my own optimism that keeps me believing we are all on a spiritual journey doing the best we can in the moment.
What I mean by a spiritual journey is the learning and development we seek related to our human spirit or soul. These lessons may or may not be of a religious nature and they are most certainly not of a physical nature. Choosing to venture into this type of journey was unquestionably a turning point for me. Necessarily, the spiritual journey refocuses our attention and energy from the external world of things to our internal world of thoughts and feelings. The reward emerging from this shift of attention is evidenced in greater awareness, intuition and compassion.
After 20 years of spiritual journeying and practice, I can safely say this greater awareness of self and life arrives at living the kind of life I most want to live. In the early part of my journey, I explored many things (external to myself) seeking to understand someone else’s experience so I could define what spiritual meant to me. As consequences of my choices enlightened me, I came to realize that all the answers I sought lay buried within me. My job, and that of any spiritual journeyer, is to free the unlimited wisdom lying within.
Each of our inner experiences has the potential to shine a light on a lesson worthy of our learning. Very likely, if we pay attention to that inner awareness, we learn the lesson with minimal external physical cost or loss.
Collision
It is the dark nights of the soul
that teach compassion,
that lift us above our agony
onto the wings of love.
Like a submerged secret arising
from the depths of past deeds,
our ocean of love swells potential.
Anything, everything, becomes possible
when willingness, love and life collide.
December 2012
What inner experience is calling for your attention? What decision is required for you to make this turning point in your life?
