Evolve or Repeat
What does it take to wake up and stay awake in times of difficult transition?
The reality is you were born and you will die. The gap in between those two parts of the cycle is called life. You don’t have control over many of the difficult transitions you may face in that time; however, you have a choice how you engage with life during transition. You have a choice between evolving or repeating.
The first step to waking up (becoming more conscious) is awareness of what your unconscious inclination is. One way to become more conscious is to be aware of what thoughts are going through your mind when you first wake up in the morning. Do you awaken knowing that the day ahead is another day to practice staying in your power? A day of unimagined opportunities to expand your self-awareness giving you more choices to move beyond self-perceived limitations? If so, this may be an indication that you are choosing to evolve.
Do you wish you could just roll over and go back to sleep and not have to face the day? Do you feel like life is happening to you and you are powerless to do anything about it? You tell yourself it is going to be okay, things will return to “normal” but in the meantime, you are feeling fearful of how the changes will impact your life. Perhaps the thought that things may not return to normal creeps into your mind space but that is too scary to think about. If so, this may be an indication that you are in repeat mode.
The next step to waking up in difficult times of transition requires making a choice. I have walked both paths. The repeat path is about protecting self from change. This path is supported by the old paradigm (survival consciousness). It is about hiding, hence the sayings like, “burying your head in the sand”, “having blinders on” and “if you don’t see it then it is not real”. It is about resistance — change is neither embraced nor accepted. On this path, I experienced much pain and suffering. In hiding and resisting and choosing not to accept, I had become a container that held the pain, and it felt relentless. The evolve path is about allowing, creating space for what is unfolding and allowing it to emerge fully. It is about acceptance, understanding that change is inevitable. I have experienced pain on this path as well but the difference is that when I work with what is, I flow through the pain and the pain flows through me. I am a channel versus a container.
If you choose to evolve, asking yourself these big life questions may support you to wake up and stay awake during difficult transitions:
1) Am I afraid to slow down and listen? If so, why?
2) How can I use this time of transition as an opportunity to become more aware, to wake up and to expand my consciousness so I no longer repeat my past?
3) What will it take for my desire to be fully awake, to become stronger than my fear of changing?
4) How can I wake up and stay awake when the emotional or physical pain is so great?
5) How can I use this time of transition to deepen my awareness, expand my consciousness and be a light for myself and others?
Rumi’s words describe the evolve path beautifully:
“When you do something from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”
When you are stuck in story you are on the repeat path.