When crisis hits and you find yourself at a crossroad, fear can feel overwhelming. How can you handle the decision-making without hitting the panic button? First, recognize that crisis offers you an opportunity for conscious creation, and see yourself as the conscious creator of your reality. As a creator, you need to align your intention and your emotions with your path. Here are twelve practical steps to help you do that.
Lately, when I talk to people, many of them express a sense that they are facing major, life-defining crossroads. I am feeling it myself. For one person it may involve taking their business to another level, for another it may mean leaving a job that no longer works. For others, that life-defining moment is on a personal level: finding the courage to break free from addiction, leave a relationship or reclaim their health.
Something deeper in you is being called forth at the crossroads of life's journey and once you answer the call, you know that life will not be the same.
At the initial stage of a life-defining crossroads, you may be unsure about how to proceed. Inspired guidance has not yet come forth and you may feel as if you are lost between the past and the future. This stage offers you the opportunity to embrace the unknown rather than feeling afraid or stuck. How can you do this without going into panic or fear?
It is very helpful to know that the experience of nothingness - the void of the unknown - is really the experience of pure potential. The place of non-material nothingness embodies pure, undifferentiated potential for a new reality to emerge in response to your intention, focus and faith. Instead of emptiness, this space contains the fullness of all possibilities. It offers you the opportunity create a new level of being for your soul to experience.
The experience of this non-material space offers you a profound opportunity for conscious creation. It is important to recognize that you are not at the whim of outside circumstances and random events here. You can consciously guide and create events through your focused intention, which forms the core of any creative process. When you set your intention clearly and specifically, you signal to the energies out there to create a reality that resonates with what you hold in mind.
Next, you need to take responsibility for your feelings so that you are in emotional alignment with your intention, banishing any sense of fear, worry, concern or doubt. Wherever our focus goes, energy flows. It is therefore essential to recognize any thoughts, feelings and emotions of fear, and to release these with compassion so your mind can be at peace - the true resting place of faith.
Finally, you have to let go of trying to control outcomes. Instead, present your need to the Divine and then detach from it. Simply let go of all attachment and aversion related to the situation: both your attachment to the desired outcome and your fear of the alternative. Allow Divinity to respond to your situation at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way.
Then, allow gratitude to fill your being: give thanks for Divine guidance, provision and support to flow into you with each breath you take. Let the Divine Presence surround and fill you with a deep sense of gratitude. The attitude of gratitude expands your perspective to recognize guidance, synchronicities and confirmation on your path.
From the perspective of gratitude and trust, you will take inspired action rather than pushing to make things happen from a place of fear or control. You are indeed part of a dynamic feedback loop with Divinity; a co-creative relationship where you are holding space for answers to emerge through your intention, faith, and gratitude.
Once you grasp the enormous potential inherent in this process, you will see the crossroads of life as an opportunity to create optimal new outcomes with the raw materials of life.
Here are a few principles to keep in mind as you learn to become fearless in the field of all possibilities:
1. Remain detached from expectations and fears. Attachment breeds expectation and fear. Instead, focus on the Eternal Source of your supply and keep your focus on that Source rather than on circumstances.
2. Keep your perspective on the present moment. When we focus on the future, we feed fear and anxiety; when we focus on the past, we feed guilt, blame and regret. There is always enough grace in the present moment to meet your need, no matter how overwhelming the circumstances. By staying focused on the present, you stay open to all the possibilities.
3. Adapt quickly to mistakes. Rather than turning a setback into some judgment about yourself, the situation or others, simply acknowledge your feelings of disappointment and take note of what you have learned from it. Then reaffirm your detachment, surrender and trust so you can return to the ultimate resting place of peace.
4. Be alert to tiny signals - major turning points of life often arrive as small signals at first. Learn to see and interpret the metaphors through which life speaks to you.
5. Cultivate a healthy, balanced connection between your soul and body. Decision-making is easier when you remain aware of your spiritual core guiding you through the physical challenges of life, rather than trying to disassociate from either aspect.
6. Stay flexible in your thinking and embrace ambiguity. Transformation is sometimes a messy process. Flexibility makes it easier to release unrealistic expectations when they prove untenable.
7. Be patient. You are a spiritual being that exists in eternity; don't let human expectations and time frames rob you of peace. Surrender every fear, doubt, anxiety or worry as it surfaces, so you can hold a space of clear intention and trust the perfect unfolding of Divine order.
8. Take fabulously good care of yourself. Nurture yourself with healthy food, exercise and rest so you can have the physical resilience and stamina to realize optimal outcomes.
9. Allow your core values to guide your decisions. When your choices, actions and behaviors are aligned with your values, you won't need to second-guess yourself.
10. Honor healthy boundaries. Learn that "no" can be a complete sentence. It's a healthy and necessary way to address external demands at a time when you are figuring out major life decisions.
11. Be discerning about the company you keep. During times of change, it is important to receive validation from people whose views of reality match your own. Such validation grounds and supports you in trusting your own inner guidance, whereas negative people deplete your energy.
12. Take time for meditation or contemplation. This practice will help you stay centered and at peace. It is also a powerful way to re-connect to Divine inspiration and fuel for your soul.
Together, these principles can help you fearlessly face the unknown and embrace new possibilities. I suggest that you pick even just one of these principles and make it a part of your life during the next month. Then watch what happens!
Tips For Making Optimal Decisions
Your life at this moment is the product of every decision you have made along the way - both big ones and small ones. Are you overwhelmed by the decisions facing you? There are some basic principles to keep in mind when making decisions. These can significantly improve the quality of your decisions and the outcomes in your life. The next time you are faced with a decision, review this list of criteria to improve your outcomes.
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