I woke up early, as usual, this morning and instead of being filled with Monday morning jitters or groans about the challenges or responsibilities facing me this week, I was oddly cogent and calm. Taking this as a sign that a little reflection was in order, I infused the morning’s energy into prayer and consideration and devoted a half hour to quiet reading. I returned to a book by Gabby Bernstein I began reading a year ago, The Universe Has Your Back, and felt like the next section would speak to me – and it did, revealing a theme in my reflection that I hope will provide some insight and inspiration for your week. There’s always more to the story than you know.
As a decidedly creative person who some have dubbed as “an artist trapped in a scientist’s body” it can give you a sense for the kind of soul I have. This illustration does portray a slightly limiting view that scientists are methodical and that is perhaps how they can get amazing things done, but I would argue scientists are also inherently creative and persistent, trying minutely different tweaks (or exploring what may initially seem like mistakes) until the perfect, creative solution appears. This seeming paradox is at the crux of an existential struggle that I’ve had as an early career professional in the making.
Constantly taught to choose (earlier! now!) which track I would go down – scientist, artist, writer, entrepreneur – there was always a pressure to pick one thing and give it wholehearted attention; however, inside, I knew that wasn’t really me. One phrase that is in The Universe Has Your Back is
open to creative possibilities.
Instead of succumbing to existing out of a place of fear, living and breathing from a place of joy has a totally different feel. There’s energy in all that we do, and in the career space, I think it is definitely important to angle oneself in the right-for-you direction.
I’m writing and getting vulnerable in this post because I hope to connect and learn from my readers. The best part of writing is connecting with others.
One fear and limiting belief that comes up often with me is that after I’ve expended energy towards a certain goal – often in one of my professional activities – I immediately feel fearful if I don’t get the response I anticipate right away. An ironclad wall comes down around my thoughts and I’m certain in that moment that all my painstaking planning was not good enough and I’ve missed that wisp of a detail that separates a successful undertaking from a tragic failure. Does this happen to you too?
After a few breaths, a conversation with a couple of friends, that wall begins to lift a couple of inches off of the ground and I have breathing room to start to think of other possibilities – there was an issue behind the scenes going on with the person that I was expecting a response from, they didn’t see it, people (like me) are also very busy. A major issue is with the way that I “wrote the narrative” of the situation.
Essentially, what I often discover is that there is more to the story than I know and that any perceived obstacles and impasses I encounter on a particular journey aren’t usually personal.
The title of a chapter in The Universe Has Your Back
Obstacles are Detours in the Right Direction
I absolutely love that phrase because it changes the way I think of what seems in the moment to be major obstacles. I’ve always trusted in divine timing – I believe there’s good out there for me, and I need to step out of the way sometimes to let it in. Somehow, this is an activity that I, at least, need lots of practice with!
How can we leap from inside that ironclad wall to a place with breathing room and the space to consider other creative possibilities? Consider the story you WANT to write. What do you want to feel? Write that story. Acknowledge the details of the obstacles and frame them in a way that gives you a way to excel.
Entering a new opportunity – job, relationship, adventure – from a mindful, inner place of joy, and of excitement, instead of fear, combined with a pre-conceived willingness that you tend to as a living entity and allow to flourish will also allow good things to ensue. That is one place to start – and restart again – forgiving yourself quickly if you forget and end up walled in that ironclad place of fear. If that happens, take a few deep breaths, and allow the wall to lift up and allow creative possibilities in.
Thoughtfully,
