To be truthful, I really wanted to go because I
wanted to hear Elizabeth Gilbert speak. I said in my last blog post that I have
been reading (and rereading) a lot self-discovery journey stories.
I have been dawn to them probably because I,
myself, have been on my own journey of self -discovery, or as Elizabeth Gilbert
called it, The Quest. She detailed how there are certain elements that
everyone will experience when she can no longer ignore her destiny. First
of all, there is The Threshold. Once one crosses over The Threshold, she can
never go back to the way life was before. Once the journey begins, it is
not smooth sailing. The person on the quest faces all kinds of hurdles:
Self-doubt, doubt in faith, tricksters, enemies that are really friends.
It can be confusing and unsettling, but in the end, you get to live life
as you were truly meant to live it. That
is a pretty amazing accomplishment.
I really needed to hear this. My quest has
been full of bumps and pitfalls, some of my own doing, some just collateral
damage of going on a quest. Thankfully, Elizabeth addressed
this saying that she used to pray for her life to change, yet without making a
mess. She stated that this is pretty impossible, and I felt grateful for
that bit of knowledge about The Quest.
But as Iyanla Vanzant said, "If you made it
through the past, you passed. You don't need to pass with an A." She said
that sometimes you pass with an F for faith. I'll take it.
She also said, "Do not be loyal to things
that are not good for you." I
needed to hear this because if you are going to commit to The Quest, you can’t
hold on to your negative baggage.
 |
| Such a simply concept to understand, but super hard to actually do. |
Between what Iyanla and Elizabeth, I was
overcome by sense of validation. The Quest is not easy. Letting go
of drama and not being loyal to things that no longer serve you is not easy.
And that is OK.
I also walked away with the urge to practice
mediation on a regular basis. It seems that each of Oprah's trailblazers
meditate. It is hard to listen to the universe if you can't quiet the
mind. So as of Monday, I will be meditating everyday. I will tell you
this; the first day was hard. So very hard. Hard as in I don't want to do it
ever again. Because I hate doing things that I'm not good at. Oprah
said that these icky feelings should not be viewed as negative; it should be
viewed as information. The information I gathered has led me to believe
that I really need to practice meditation more often.
I am feeling grateful for this bright spot of inspiration.
Have you felt validated about something you are
working on? Has anything inspired you lately?
