One of the BIG Challenges
Navigating the soul-led life
Letting your soul lead might sound like a brilliant idea to you. Perhaps you feel it in your guts or your bones or get the tingles that alert you when you’re onto something great.
And then you try to explain it to your friends, or your family, or heaven-forbid, a doctor.
It’s possible that your enthusiasm is met with confusion, doubt, even derision.
It can be tough to maintain one’s devotion in the face of materialism and the status quo. Most people won’t have an idea what you’re “going on about” and others will be downright threatened by your announcement.
When I KNEW I needed to get the amalgam fillings in my mouth replaced, my Muggle dentist claimed there was nothing wrong with them and no need to do so. Instead of trying to explain, I sought out a holistic dentist and started to save up some money for this pricey undertaking. I begin next week and it will take many months to complete, but I can’t wait to have all the metal out of my mouth!
When I told my CPA cousin my goal of whittling my workweek down from 30 to 25 hours, he laughed. Literally LOLed at me. The notion of pursuing any goal other than making the most money possible was so inconceivable to him as to be ridiculous. I suspect he thinks I was joking.
When the acupuncturist I was visiting to treat chronic low back pain asked me for the third time why I hadn’t gotten MRI’ed, I stopped going. Sheesh, if a practitioner of the holistic energetic arts doesn’t believe in holistic energy healing, I just couldn’t continue treatment there.
I wasn’t about to explain how I was employing mantra and visualization, prayer and meditation to heal blockages, suppressed emotions and outdated coping mechanisms. As far as I know, those things don’t show up on an MRI. And confessing that I designed my own physical therapy based on intuition and listening to my own body, well… let’s just say I kept that confession under wraps.
Four times I’ve moved across time zones without a plan or employment because of a longing in my heart. I signed up for massage school spontaneously without having seriously considered it for more than a few days. I landed in my first Reiki class without even knowing what it was!
If you were trying to analyze my decision making from the outside, the natural conclusion is that I’m a lunatic, or at the very least highly compulsive and undisciplined. Of course, you can’t see my value system or my connection to a guiding force that doesn’t much bother with capitalism or allopathic medicine.
While your particular choices will likely be different than mine, you’re likely to face people in your life who don’t understand. There seem to be two primary ways through this.
You learn to ignore what people think. I do this sometimes, but truly, it can be exhausting! Even when I’m fully rooted in the knowingness that I’m on the right path for me, it takes a fair amount of energy to willingly reveal myself to the skeptics.
There is a time and a place to speak up and expose the world to alternative views. If your path is that of the visionary or the rebel, then this is probably one of those things you will need to face. Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable is likely an important capacity for you to develop.
The option I prefer is to keep my seemingly unusual behavior mostly private. (Says the lady about to publish these words on the internet!) However, I’m selective with whom I share the details of my spiritual journey in my everyday life. I’m blessed to have several friends on parallel journeys who don’t even flinch when I launch into the latest tale that would make my mother cringe. Somehow it’s easier to tell strangers about my decision making tendencies than my neighbors or colleagues.
Whatever strategy you adopt, first and foremost, I hope to make it apparent that you’re not alone if you’re feeling like a misfit. It can be challenging to navigate life when you don’t feel like you belong. But when I look at the world around me, I have to wonder, is this upside-down, ass-backwards society something to which I yearn to belong? Not so much.
You’re welcome in my club anytime. There’s always tea on hand. And chocolate. Because my soul knows what is good in this world. :)
Excellent article!
Thanks for the reminder that “fitting in” may not be the best for my path.
I honor your path, Pamela. There’s much that holds resonance & some shared particulars, too - including, a heaping handful of moves “without a plan … because of a longing in my heart.” And! Club Tea & Chocolate!