Yesterday I was having a discussion with a group of colleagues, there were five of us in total, huddled together around a small table, and we were discussing aspects of transformation, moving toward goals, and ways to create what we want in our lives. One woman in our group summed it up very simply: “Work with what you get. It doesn’t mean you have to agree with it, just keep moving forward. You have to keep your [energy] flow moving.”
I thought about her statement during my drive home. I thought about how sometimes, when we’re on this path called Life, things happen that can cause us to become paralyzed in moving forward. Unexpected circumstances, events or situations that cause us to trip and falter. Life events that attempt to stop us dead in our tracks, or completely annihilate our vision of how we planned our life to turn out. Things that attempt to destroy our inner vision of how we look at ourselves.
How often, when unexpected circumstances present themselves, do we dig in our heels and refuse to move forward? How often do we refuse to ‘go with the flow’, and deal with problems and issues as they arise, refusing to accept what has happened, refusing to work with it, deal with it, and ultimately, overcome the challenge in order to move forward? Refusing to accept the situation or circumstance inhibits us from working through the challenge, and ultimately shuts down our flow of energy, which in the end means lack of opportunity as no new doors open for us.
I know a woman who recently lost everything in a divorce. She spent six years fighting for her share of marital assets. She used all of her financial resources for legal fees, and in the end she lost everything. Her husband of seventeen years came out on top. He controlled the finances, he controlled the businesses, and ultimately it came down to who had more money to continue the legal battle. So she lost, and is now left with broken pieces to try to put back together. She moved out of her beautiful, expensive home that she dearly loved, and into a small condo owned by her children, rent free.
The sad part is that she is refusing to move forward. She refuses to unpack anything in the condo, and she cannot for the life of her accept these circumstances. She’s paralyzed from moving forward, and spends her time reading and rereading the stacks of legal papers that she has accumulated over the last six years. Her stress levels are through the roof and are wreaking havoc on her physical, mental and emotional health. She’s refusing to let go and move forward. As a result, she is stuck in a void. No creation of life can happen in this void as there is no energy flow to support it.
If she could keep moving forward by unpacking and making the condo her home, even if she chose to think of it as temporary home, she would start a flow of positive energy. If she were able to let go, and stop dwelling on the past and attempt to seek opportunity to move forward, her energy flow would increase and doors would open…doors of opportunity for the future. It is true that life as she knew it has changed, but the opportunity to create a new, different life is available to her if she can move out of the void by taking steps to move forward.
I go back to the statement from my colleague. Work with what you get. It may not be what you wanted, but use it as a stepping stone. You may have been re-directed off what you thought was your path, but there are new paths ahead…a new way of moving forward into a new future. Keep moving forward.