Thursday, August 19, 2010

The Merging of Me

"For me, the spiritual quest will be a life-long work in progress." ~ Dan Brown

In sports, they sometimes say that the best offense is a good defense. But in life, acting defensively can prove to be the undoing of a person. When we are reactive, rather than proactive…the ball remains in the other person’s “court” and we surrender control to their return.

Certainly, we all have mechanisms to help us deflect, dodge, and navigate successfully through the potentially explosive minefields of life. Some people use self-deprecating humor to hide insecurities or hidden fears and others project their issues through judgmental manipulation.

For the last few months, I’ve been on somewhat of a quest to merge the many aspects of myself into a more satisfying and unified path. However, sometimes we outgrow our shells before we’ve found a suitable replacement for the next phase of our journey and that can be just as painful as never growing in the first place. I’m still unsure at times about integrating my spiritual self in regards to my career but my friends have provided me with tremendous council, giving me a private outlet to vent. Now, I understand the “path” is of little significance compared to the way in which we choose to walk it because your life may be the only Bible some people will ever read.

This doesn’t mean we won’t make mistakes or get struck by lightning from time to time. On the contrary, the importance of this journey resides not in never falling- but in the manner with which conduct ourselves after we have fallen. Each time we get knocked down, whether by our own hand or circumstances out of our control, provides indelible opportunity for our soul’s to grow.

If we are honest with ourselves as we grow, I think most everyone gets to a point in their life or career when they start questioning the validity of what they’ve been doing. Some manage to successfully ignore that inner voice telling them a change is in order because they feel stuck, financially lured or do not want to waste years of schooling and experience.

Last year, my inner voice began been screaming at me to make a change. I’ve mulled over many opportunities and spent the summer writing. I am glad that I haven’t totally abandoned my roots because I am certain those life lessons brought to me through sports have served a purpose on this path as well.

Creating ourselves is a lifelong process and it really is the journey that matters most in the end. I look forward to exploring that more on this blog and I hope you’ll join me.

Blessings, T.