In the midst of change ...

"The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress".
~Charles F. Kettering~

In the Native Indian tradition, the seasons initiate the flow of life: in the spring, new ideas are born; in the summer, those ideas are fed to flourish; in the fall, the ideas that have thrived are kept, those that have struggled are discarded; in the winter, the limited energy we have goes into the ideas that have been selectively kept. It is a flow of spreading energy into a vast space of potential and allowing that potential to expand. And then, suddenly and oppositely, cutting that very potential back mercilessly into a pinpoint focus in which to truly create.

This is the season of discarding stagnant ideas in favour of those which are continuing to bloom. In looking around my social network, I see my my walking buddy who has decided to suddenly quit her job in favour of exploring a new, professional direction. I see one of my soul sisters considering a move to a different country, giving up all that she knows here and taking a risk on another, more spiritually fulfilling life. One couple I know has just gotten pregnant and is looking forward to moving into an entirely new realm of their dynamic; another set of close friends are moving to a tropical country and starting a business there; my teacher friend and his partner are moving into a house they never thought they could afford and buying chic, new furniture to decorate their new lives. I could go on .. and I will to say that I am also experiencing a post-1-month-vacation, re-evaluation of my life.

I haven't written in my blog for almost 2 weeks now. In this two weeks, I have made decisions that are throwing me into the whirl-wind of shifting my life. These decisions feel like a big, huge step back that will eventually facilitate a gigantic, catapult ahead. In this perceived step back, I find myself in a place of "instability"; a place of unbelievably, undeniable fear that all that I know to be my life is going to metamorphose into an entirely different reality - a reality that may be no better that what I have now and, even worse, a reality that I might totally not like!

Change is hard. The fear associated with change is even harder. There are always bad days in the process that make you question whether taking a risk has been worth the difficulty. Then there will be days in which the entirety of your vision comes together before your eyes and all the fear, the angst, the apprehension will fall away. Creating our lives is an experience that will push us beyond living in the comfort of day-to-day: it is an experience that will help us see our true potential and force us to step up and forage ahead when the obstacles seem insurmountable. It will provide an excitement and a personal satisfaction that is only found through facing and over coming hardship.

So, to all those people that are looking major life change straight in the eye, allow yourself to welcome it, without fear! After all, the best part of changing things in your life is that if you don't like the result, you can keep changing them until you do!