Why Does It Hurt and Does It Have To?
CLIMBING THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE
Q: Why Does It Hurt and Does It Have To?
A: On the entrepreneurial journey I have learned so much and I still feel like a toddler of sorts. I may be walking but the road is a long one and I am still learning how to use many of my still-forming muscles. Everyone talks, laughs, or cries about how difficult it is, and truly, it really is. I believe it is the challenge that strengthens me, it is the arduous climb that fortifies and clarifies my why right within the fire itself.
And then I had a very provocative Capricornian dream the other night. I was climbing an incredibly steep face of a mountain. I was enjoying it as I pulled my body weight up the vertical slope one handhold after the next. The sun was going down and soon I could barely see the rock face. I had a moment, if you know what I mean. There was still a long way to go. Out of the corner of my eye, I looked over and saw a path, paved no less, that winded up and around reaching the apex of the mountain top just a few hundred feet above me.
My nature was to keep climbing and exhaust myself with ever new levels of intensity and effort. However, I looked at the easeful choice and accepted some type of silent invitation to try something new. I climbed toward the path and felt my feet on the smooth surface; I simply walked to the top of where I had originally planned to arrive.
When I awoke, I felt an internal sense of victory. Not in the same way I typically do after hiking for hours into the vertical steeps of the mountains I live in. Or by working my Capricorn self into the completion of a project. Instead, I had chosen a path of least resistance, a new perspective that was equally if not more satisfying.
APPLYING NEW PERSPECTIVE
Two days later I was surprised by some unexpected news, which I should have expected with Mercury still traversing over its retrograde shadow. I went through many different emotions in response, first shock and denial then generated optimism seeking a silver lining, more denial, bewilderment, sadness, anger, disappointment, hesitancy, remembrance, clarity, strength, resilience, and currently, awareness. I recognized the opportunity to make a new choice as I remembered my dream.
There are many ways I could “be” in the midst of this challenge and the one that feels true to me is a path of least resistance, not just externally but internally too. As opposed to fretting or remaining stuck in sadness, I looked over and found a new way forward, paved with insight and deep learning.
I am still inside of this moment as I write, and facing a painful reality. Through contemplation and self-observation I am coming to new levels of understanding. I don’t have to struggle in the same ways I have, although I easily could. I do however need to honor myself and care for myself and perhaps one way of doing this is by approaching this time through a new way of being. I still love the challenge, don’t get me wrong, but I am learning how to refine my expenditure of energy and choose where I wish to spend my valuable resources of focus and attention. New muscles forming, new muscle memory.
We cannot change the world until we accept we are the world. This is the new conversation.
