I have heard it said that the first step to change is awareness. Because the thing is that most of us at one point or another are sleep-walking through life; which is probably why this awareness is often prompted by “wake-up calls”. Have you known someone who had blinders on to something in their life, whether it be a relationship, a job, a behavior, and thought “if only they could see what was going on?” Have you ever wondered if other people were saying or thinking the same thing about you? It’s seriously irritating to think so isn’t it? But it’s most likely true. There’s another saying of sorts that asks “would you rather be right or happy?” Most of us would rather be right. Being right feels safe because it means we don’t need to change, we can stay in our comfort zones. So we put on our blinders, put our heads down, close up our hearts and ignore any sign that what we believe is not actually the case, or more to the point, is no longer serving us.
At the end of the day I don’t believe that we came to this Earth to sleep-walk through life. But, as I mentioned above, it can be frightening for us to face what’s holding us back from living out our purpose because that would require us to change. And we really don’t wanna change! The stuff we refuse to become conscious of, which often boils down to what’s known as our negative limiting beliefs, are usually the result of things that once upon a time we were not capable of dealing with, or things we didn’t feel safe to handle; for example events that happened when we were children. And while these unconscious beliefs served us then by helping us survive, eventually they stopped serving and started harming us instead.
These Universe wake-up calls can be pretty painful. Unfortunately they don’t often get delivered by fluffy little bunnies and kitties. They’re often a kick right in the tuchas. And it’s not that Universe (or higher power, God, whatever you wish to call it) enjoys our pain and suffering as much as it is that we’re just so darned determined to remain asleep that sometimes the only thing that will wake us up is enormous suffering.
Have you ever had a similar painful event happen to you more than one time? Sometimes three or more times? And maybe each around it sucks even harder? These, my friend, are your wake-up calls. See, usually the first wake-up call is something small, something that may be kind of annoying and painful but easy to ignore after a while. But as we continue to hit that snooze button on life, the messages get more and more insistent. Until one day we get a brick upside the head. Don’t despair though. The cool thing is that the more awake and conscious we are, the more likely we will be to heed these messages before they get to the brick-to-the-head stage. So each subsequent lesson and message is received, acknowledged, integrated, whatever you want to call it, sooner and less painfully.
It may or may not be easy for you to get this, but believe it or not we’re all doing the very best we can with what we have in the moment. Truly sometimes the only thing we can do is to put one foot in front of the other. So please trust that as you wake up and are forced to process the feelings, the hurt, the scars and whatever you have left over from your past, you are going to be okay. You are going to be better than okay. Whatever happens, please don’t beat yourself up. And do your best to get on a path of forgiving those who have hurt you, if only to free yourself. Because you did the best you could to survive, and you made it. You did survive! Celebrate that fact! The Universe needs us awake and open. We need each other awake and open! Because then can we learn the lessons we’re here to learn and serve the world in the way only we are each uniquely designed to. And we can’t do it alone, nor are we meant to. Above all remember that this is a process. What sometimes feels like two steps back is still moving forward on your unique journey and unique path of life.
Elizabeth Holt Handlovsky
Latest posts by Elizabeth Holt Handlovsky (see all)
- Getting Off the Emotional Rollercoaster: Time to Feel the Feels and Then Let It Go - July 28, 2015
- To My Former Friend - July 7, 2015
- Honouring the Gift of Sensitivity - June 30, 2015
