Get Ready. Amazing Developments Are Happening!
“Unravel before you can unfold.”
~Soul Matters Sharing Circle LLC –“ Becoming,” Unitarian Universalist Association
Unraveling is hard, demanding, offers little relief at my timetable, and is most always accompanied by physical and emotional distress. At one point in mid-life, I had gotten divorced; lost what I thought was my dream job as part of management with an airline; became a Home Depot cashier, in a completely unfamiliar industry; and had to troubleshoot a flooded basement from an unknown cause in a home in which I had just started housesitting. These situations involved difficult choices, and love didn’t seem to be part of the equation. Every seam was unraveling within a short period of time. My distress mirrored as physical ailments. At the time, I believed these experiences were happening to me—poor me! I felt like suffering was my lot in life. All I could do was cope (another word signifying control) with the hopes of getting through another day. I didn’t think these experiences had anything to teach me nor did they have anything to do with deep listening or spiritual growth. They were just what I had to live through!
Some years later, I still didn’t realize the extent to which my earlier life experiences would become the foundational reserve I would need to draw on for future work—deep listening and concern for spiritual growth—work that I had no idea would be choosing me. That would be a revelation I was not prepared for. I started a writing business and ghostwrote three books that featured true stories of personal spiritual journeys. Physical ailments and emotional stress came and went. What was the unfolding? Never mind the lesson. What light?
A decade ago, I received a spiritual nudge to become an ambassador for loss, death, and dying. Those were my words for the direction I was headed. I was called to write and speak words that healed and awakened people to the higher lessons in loss, death, and dying. I continued to unravel. Resistance to this revelation came in the form of denial and excuses. My physical body rebelled through gastrointestinal issues. After six months, I accepted my calling to help others understand that loss, death, and dying are a natural part of life and, with preparation for these milestones, people could find greater bonding, love, and meaning in relationships and life.
Purpose and love were placed on my path, and I couldn’t see beyond my senses. This was the beginning of an unfolding unlike any I’d ever known. Trusting what is my life’s work, allowing what comes in moment living, and flowing with that knowledge continues to be a highly gratifying journey. Loss, death, and dying are mine to embrace and help others to do the same. Now the initial lessons were clear. Yet, what light?
Over the last year, I began working with a business coach who suggested that I create a Facebook presence—a page AND, eventually, a group. Again, my physical ailments returned. Resistance—not Facebook!? All my materials were alive and well in tangible formats. Online technology was challenging. Materials and workshop approaches would need to be changed. My digital learning curve would take too much time, something that I regarded highly. The process and results were unknown. I couldn’t listen anymore, and my spiritual growth took a back seat. Another weighty definition of love escaped me.
I finally admitted to myself that I was offering excuses because actually, it was change that I was resisting. Facebook was an opportunity to reach a global online community about mortality—a way for people to begin shifting and transforming their fears and anxiety around loss, death, and dying. This was just the start of an explosion toward ease and peace of mind. This was the unfolding. This was the lesson. This was the light!
Now I heard more deeply and felt moments of greater spiritual clarity. Could this be a form of love? Unraveling is required for a beautiful and meaningful unfolding. Only then can we learn and see beyond to the light. Unraveling during change at every level of life is common, especially during experiences of loss, death, and dying. As negative as some of our experiences seem, we are the ones who are confused and short-sighted. We choose to become victims because it is easier than facing challenges and certainly easier than discovering lessons from those challenges or finally allowing the light of understanding.
After so many years of asking why an experience crossed my path, I finally understood that the question was not why. Rather, how were unraveling experiences for me? What understanding did I gain? All of these challenges showed me that I was more powerful in adversity than I thought, that allowing leads to a meaningful unfolding, and that my life’s work offered spiritual growth on all levels. Yes, the Universe was definitely for me.
From a higher vantage: Welcome your unfolding—your evolving—what you came here to do. Welcome another definition of love. Welcome that each day is a fresh slate. And, keep allowing deep listening and concern for spiritual growth—your own and that of others.
© 2021 In the Thick of Things
