Keep Curious, But Be Easy, Your Next Best Step Will Be Revealed

As the year 2020 nears I can’t help but feel reflective, but with the kids on their long summer holiday and visitors coming and going, there is considerably less opportunity for me to simply sit and observe what is arising in the space within me.

And yet, the truth of what wants to be seen and heard within me is reflected all around me. I need not worry that I will miss out on some important message, life communicates with me in so many guises.

These are little moments of insight, gratitude and support that bubble up while I’m, for example, swimming a length of the pool and watching the sun dance along the lane’s line on the bottom, the way that I imagine neurons fire along my spine. This communicates health and vibrancy and helps me feel deep gratitude for my life.

There are many moments like this, both awake and asleep, giving rise to new ideas to unpick or things to wonder at and be grateful for. Just as the behaviour of others I’m with, or situations that crop up or conversations that take place are also reflections of what is going on for me. Life never stops communicating if I am willing to listen.

Despite having less solitude, I do love this time of year in New Zealand. Once the rush is over for wrapping up work and buying last minute gifts, the majority of the country seems to take a collective out breath. Traffic eases and things just feel more calm and relaxed for a week or so, with most Kiwis heading to the beach (not far from anyone’s door in his country).

For me there is a deep joy in the space I feel in the collective out breath, all the tension that usually surrounds me becomes noticeable in its temporary easing. It has the effect of drawing me out and supporting me in the social swirl.

In contrast, the first three days of the school holidays the kids and I didn’t even leave the house, on the fourth day we ventured out briefly to do some errands, and it wasn’t until the fifth day we actually went to the park and had some fun.

As I was sitting in the park looking up at the sky through the trees, while the kids made their way around an obstacle course, it felt like the world was saying “welcome back, come sit awhile and enjoy”.

Today I even had some time to finish another novel I’ve been reading by Belinda Alexandra. It is set in Mussolini’s Italy in the run up to and during World War 2, and I had stumbled over many harrowing chapters wondering why I felt so compelled to read it. Finally I found the words I knew my heart had been drawing me towards:

"While most Italians - and probably most Germans - had not wanted war, they had chosen a path of greed and pride and the result had been war.

For where else did violence begin but within each individual human heart?

It started with violence of thought and action, jealousy of others and loathing of oneself. It had its beginnings in the daily choices one made, including the indifference towards the suffering of animals in what one selected to eat or wear, and towards the poor and oppressed. 

From there it escalated into a collective consciousness of competitiveness, selfishness, pettiness, spite and greed. Violence of even the most seemingly innocuous kind begat more violence. That was the origin of war."

In her after-note, Belinda Alexandra says her core message is that peace on a worldwide scale is determined by each of us creating peace in our own hearts and minds first, and doing our best to live in harmony with the people and other living creatures around us. She says “When we can each do that, I believe together we will then become a force powerful enough to create positive change on a scale never before conceived."

As I read her words I knew I’d found a kindred spirit and I knew my heart was simply affirming the path I am on. As I said in Evolve Our World “ As many people now search for deeper meaning in their own lives, the discord cannot continue. One person at a time,  as we reveal our inner desires, talents and strengths, we will evolve the world in which we live to pave the way for greater meaning, satisfaction and prosperity for all.”

So all of this is to say, if you haven’t got a lot of time to yourself over the busy social season and feel like you should be setting some goals or doing something different with your life, fear not. Whatever is within you will find a way to be seen, just be open to it and keep curious and your next best step will be revealed. 

If you enjoyed reading this, you may enjoy Step in the Direction of Your Destiny, Learn to See What Is in Plain Sight and Awaken to the Gift Your Dreams Offer in Waking Life. To be the first to receive these posts, you can also opt to subscribe to my blog