Standing at a Crossroad? Finding the Path of the Hidden Gift

All of us go through challenging times in our life – times where we feel burned out and depleted; times we face the grief of unbearable loss through death, divorce, or illness; times we just feel dead ourselves as we move by rote - empty of connection, clarity, direction or self love.

Our times of greatest life challenge and confusion put us smack dab in the middle of a crossroad.  And there we stand: looking to the left; looking to the right; looking back from where we have come; and looking ahead at the life stretching out before us if we continue down that same path from which we have just come and that has led to this crossroad.

 Can you picture a time when you found yourself standing in the middle of a crossroad wondering what to do next …and how to go about deciding?  Chances are you are at some kind of crossroad or life transition now – at least in some aspect of your life. 

 Crossroads are not an easy place to stand (or to sit …or to lie face down in the dirt, for that matter!). We know we must move in some direction, yet feel utterly confused, fearful, and wrapped in circular mind games as to which is the “right direction” to take!

 Making “the right choice” and “taking the right path” becomes a seductive mind-tyrant keeping us stuck in the middle, tormented by our own inner battle of head vs heart; ego vs soul; freedom vs responsibility; love vs. justice; right vs wrong.  …And who the hell knows which is which anyway! – and on and on and on…  Been there? It’s horrible.

 A crossroad is a place that demands some direction be taken if you are to continue to trive. That, or give up and stay stuck right where you are.  And even staying stuck where you are is a place of sorts – just a very self-torturing, life-denying place. Staying stuck is not truly sustainable forever, although many of us stay stuck for months and years and even decades – especially around the areas of our deepest wounds, insecurities, self doubts, and fears. Even the longest stuck has a healing breakthrough waiting to be see, if only we knew how to find it…

 Here’s the interesting part about these times in our lives when we feel most discouraged, disheartened, confused and (well) STUCK!:

These stuck places that mirror our deepest life wounds, our secret innermost fears, and our greatest personal insecurities, have (within them) a reflection to our self-love, inner healing, and awakened spiritual path!

 Believe it or not, these self-doubting and confusing stuck places in our life that we call crossroads, are exactly the places that present a doorway to the perceptual breakthrough that is necessary for true healing, self-realization, and spiritual awakening.

 It is at the crossroads of life that we are offered life’s greatest gift -- the pathway to our soul’s own genius and authentic nature.    

 How can I assert and affirm this statement with such certainty? Because I have lived it, over and over again: Not only in my own life struggles (and I’ve had plenty!) but through the hundreds of people who have come to me seeking the tools for finding self-love; healing acceptance from past trauma or abuse; recovery from loss and grief; a way of overcoming negative thought patterns and compulsive thinking/doing/distracting… And who, by their vulnerable courage to step into the unknown, have found much more than they could have ever imagined…

 People seek a spiritual retreat when they feel the need to gain greater clarity, direction, and love in their lives. People seek to work with a spiritual teacher or guide in a private or personally-guided spiritual retreat in order to be truly seen; to be accepted with openness and non-judgment; and to be gently guided in the art and endowed with the tools necessary for finding and following his or her own inner wisdom on the spiritual journey of life.

 I have the privilege to meet daily with people who are at a crossroad in life, and who seek the keys to inner peace, unconditional love, clarity of purpose, and the courage to overcome fear and self-doubts. Each person comes with a presenting issues or question that needs resolution.  Each issue is  the doorway in. Each reason for attending a private or personally guided retreat brings the person to his or her crossroad. Each crossroad presents a hidden gift: the opportunity for a life-changing breakthrough and direct experience of what it really is to heal and live authentically.

 These breakthrough moments in a person’s life comes to a true spiritual teacher for guidance mark the healing apex of “no return”, when the old patterns and blocks no longer rule one’s life. These are stunningly great, inspired and simple moments of release and relief; of healing and inspired new presence of being.

 When breakthrough occurs, there is a fundamental shift of perception (or a conscious awakening) that orients within the person as they discover – within themselves -- the language of soul and the right relationship with the ego mind and each moment of living. When this inner shift happens, there is often a small beaming smile, tears and a big sigh of relief.

 At these moments of direct awakening, an alchemical transformation naturally unfolds. That which was once the wound or the block or the fear, turns into “a worthy teacher” shining the light on the person’s own special gift, purpose and path! It is truly a miraculous magical moment – and yet it is so very natural, organic and simple too.

 “What a wondrous relief!” This is what I invariably hear from people at a life transition and crossroad who come to a spiritual retreat and step vulnerably into the landscape of the unknown to find the solution to their problem… and who, by grace, find self-realization, insight,  and tools for listening and following their true nature.

 When you find yourself feeling stuck, seeking healing, or at a crossroad in your life, here are the keys to the doorway in. (If you can hold out the hope of holding these keys, even when feeling lost, hopeless, discouraged, or fearfully confused, you will already be standing at the threshold of your doorway in to living from soul).

 WHY A SPIRITUAL RETREAT?  Here is the alchemy of breakthrough from entering into a personal guided spiritual retreat with a master spiritual teacher who can guide you to the art of seeing and living from your own inner truth:

• It is the job of your wounds and your struggles to bring you to a crossroad.
  

• It is the nature of the crossroad to cause you to question, doubt, seek and wrestle with the many conflicting voices of persona, head and heart – and to come to see and witness the mechanisms of the mind and dual nature of ego. 
  

• It is the calling of soul to hear your earnest plea and to reveal her voice leading you toward an awakening of heart that naturally stills the mind and seats you in the authenticity of your true nature.
  

• It is the love of a true master teacher to stand at the doorway of a crossroad and shine a light on the breakthrough that is being offered through your breakdown, and in such a way that you can find and know this light within yourself -- independent of any teacher, teaching or method.
  

• It is the gift of you who seek and come to a personal retreat for spiritual guidance, to learn to invoke the artful tools of soul, and to say “yes to life” by stepping consciously into each moment of unfolding, and so give your true genius to life.
  

When each of these forces come together and join in a sacred relationship of spiritual alchemy, it creates an organic living tapestry and synergy of soul.  It opens your life to being an authentic expression of love’s evolution in everyday ordinary living, as it carries you on your true path of purpose.

 When this pathway I am expressing here is seen within your own inner being, then you are awakened to soul, and the inner stillness and peace of this self-realization abides in you even when there are struggles along the journey.

 My living prayer for you is this: May you meet your life crossroad with a fiercely curious and loving openness for the opportunity of meeting the worthy teacher that lies within your struggle… and so come to know and embody your life’s true destiny and gift!