The Gift of Choice

Welcome to my blog! I invite you to join me on the path as I write about my journey of transformation. One of the deepest and most significant journeys we make is the one of our own soul; a journey of discovery, wonder and mystery that takes a lifetime. The journey involves learning and un-learning, constructing and deconstructing, pain and loss, joy and goodness, growth and grind – just like a long physical hike has ups and downs. We do it for the health benefits, the views, companionship along the way, the adventure and the sense of accomplishment. The transformational journey is the same. There are victories and defeats, lessons and longings, and questions generate more questions.

The Gift of Choice

I’ve been thinking a lot about crossroads recently.

On our journey, we walk along a path. This path has already been the result of decisions made in the past. Whatever has led us to the current landscape of our life, we are walking along a particular path. Perhaps we have thoroughly enjoyed it. Perhaps it has been rocky and challenging. Perhaps we don’t like the path but can’t see an alternative path that we can get on to. Whatever, our thoughts about our path, it has been familiar. Then we come to a crossroads. We are given a choice. The first choice – whether we are aware of it or not – is to welcome the choice; rather than automatically shrinking from the interruption of a ‘burdensome decision’ to make. A choice is a gift, as we are presented with the opportunity to make a positive, life-affirming choice. A path with no options might feel safe and familiar, but it is likely that the familiarity does not stretch us, and it does not open up to us new and potentially life-giving vistas and opportunities.

The second choice when standing at the crossroads is to recognise all that is happening inside us as we are presented with the various paths. What happens when we look back? Are we comforted? Do we want to flee? Are we excited at the thought of change? Is our body flooded with fear of the unknown? And how do we even begin to know which path to take?

I have had the gift of standing at several crossroads in my life. In my upcoming blogs, I will share more about my personal journey and my experience of standing at the crossroads. I will also be blogging about how we can make wise choices as we are presented with various paths on our journey. I will be exploring what keeps us on our familiar path, what we need to make good choices and how we can walk forward with more confidence and clarity – so we can take firm steps as we move from the familiar to the unfamiliar.

The Transformational Power of a Pause

The gift of the crossroads is that it causes us to pause in our journey. There is a change in our path and we pay attention. The crossroads could be a dream opportunity or it could be a painful reckoning. The path could be exciting or even frightening, but something causes us to look up from the familiar and we are offered the chance to reflect on the path we are on, and consider another path. The pause offers us the chance to transform. In stopping our journey, whether it is welcome or unwelcome, we are given the chance to reflect and consider. It is when we ask ourselves the deeper questions of our lives that we invite transformation to happen. Often, the crossroads we find ourselves standing at are the last thing we would have chosen. A painful loss. A tragic accident. A foolish mistake.  These events cause us to stop, sometimes with brakes screeching, and yet, if we choose to see the gift inside we can transform the experience and ourselves be transformed through the power of good choices.

I don’t know about you, and your thoughts of your own journey. Perhaps you long for a change but have become used to the familiar. Perhaps you are currently experiencing change that is overwhelming and unwelcome. Let me encourage you that standing at the crossroads is a gift, however it looks and feels right now. Questions asked at the crossroads will be crucial to your future journey.

End of the year – new beginnings

The end of a year, and beginning of a new one is perhaps the most regular invitation we all have to stand at the crossroads and consider how far we have come and where we want to go next. As we stand at the crossroads of a new year, why don’t you take the opportunity to reflect on your journey so far? What have you been proud of? What obstacles have you overcome? A crossroads offers us the chance to pause, to reflect and to consider the journey.

Come with me?

If you would like to explore this further in a coaching context please contact Anna at digdeepdreambig@gmail.com