Ever feel like you’re in a cartoon and a light bulb appears above your head? There are times in our lives when we have an epiphany or we are about to birth some enormous transformation and that energy radiates from our hearts. I am about to embark on one of those transformational experience…I’m beginning my Doctorate in Ministry next week. It’s something I’ve been contemplating for the past four years and earlier this year I made the commitment and I’m beginning my journey.
I noticed something this week…I’ve been a bit frustrated and cynical. I wrote my monthly President’s Message for my art guild and found myself very disapproving and disappointed. I didn’t submit it for publication figuring I may need to re-read the piece before three hundred people get wind of my internal workings. The next day I did modify it but I also had a conversation with someone I trust about my current predicament.
He gave me his perspective on change that I found very helpful. His experience has shown him that when we are about to engage in something transformational and those around us are not in that space we get frustrated and even judgmental. We expect that everyone will have their epiphany at the same time or be motivated to make enormous changes in their lives.
I’ve seen this a lot when someone is diagnosed with a life-altering illness. They see that taking care of themselves physically, emotionally and spiritually is paramount to beating the odds and when others don’t have the same vision they experience that inner tension I’ve described. First, be thankful that you have had the vision to put yourself first and actively participate in your well-being. Second, you can’t drag someone to an epiphany, sometimes they need their own whack in the head for that to happen. Third, it may not be that others aren’t evolved but that we’ve been lagging behind and everyone else is ahead of us. Our pilgrimage is individual and can’t be compared to that of another person. We need to focus on our own journey because we have to stay aware of our bodies, our hearts and our surroundings to achieve success.
Pilgrim Pathway/Surviving Strong 