Opportunity in Transition

So much of our resistance and friction comes from this what should I "do/ be doing/ do next/ do in addition to/ do instead of" questions ...


Especially for the large population of people who I also consider my friends that were recently violently thrust into a void where that question was non-negotiable, but also for the stay at home or working mom, the CEO with an interest in finding the balance that ensures they are meeting everyone's needs including their own, and even the empty nester or widow(er) with options that are often so vast there seems no clear choice.

...or anyone who has ever asked themselves - is this career/partner/school I've chosen creating me the life I want or costing me the life I want?
Being clear that questioning is not necessarily doubting, but endeavoring to find not only a good path, but a great path for oneself.  And in a world where we know we are as unique as snowflakes, that is a heavy task...because that means our paths are meant to be JUST. AS. UNIQUE.  
Yet its inconvenient because it’s all resistance.  And what we resist, persists.  So the circle can seem never-ending.
My working theory is this:
What if what we are “supposed” to do has already been handed to us. 

Sidebar: I don't pretend to be as busy as those who are under the gun. I know what its like to have to manage time like a tightrope walker manages gravity, so I won't pretend my version of a full plate is someone else's and I acknowledge that.  

Part of that is my creative and problems solving brain (YAY!).  But part of it is also just the resistance of questioning the path no matter what (Boo).

What got me thinking was a podcast on parenting and this lady with lots of degrees and lots of talents said she finally realized all of that skill and talent made her feel as if she MUST work out side the home.  Yet (for her) the highest calling was to use that exact set of skills to serve her family in the season where she had that choice.   I really don’t know how that lead to be realizing that what’s on my plate if I nurtured it might be exactly what I meant to do.  But it did and it lead to this old love...writing my thoughts so I can organize them and hopefully add value to someone else as I help myself.


(Group exhale)

If we look at our plate, it is quite full I think we can all say.  
But whether Im full tilt busy or my brand of busy today, I have always had a habit.  I personally have a tendency to kind of underserve what is already on my plate bc I’m looking for something else ... or because Im entertaining a better path.

I bring this up because right now Im noticing so many people feeling the exact same way.  Jobs lost, babies born, households changed forever, health changed forever, and things that force you to ask, is this path Im choosing the best?  What could/should/would be better here?

For those of us in that mode - there is no way to know which choice is going to produce the "best" outcome.  I remember when I didn't wrestle with such things.  I had a fire in my belly that people gathered around me to watch me burn, and that I know for a fact.  I was the best at what I set out to do because I, like Will Smith (look up the treadmill quote), would die before I quit on that mission.  I do miss that fire, but I dont miss the constant heat.  I don't mind being here in more tepid temperatures with some choices ahead.  (Im lying a little).

So, maybe for those of us that resonate with this, since we cannot predict the future, the answer is to tend to that which is already on our plate with ridiculous commitment, as if working for God himself.


Typically works that way.