Thursday, February 14, 2013
Below is a small excerpt from my soon-to-be released book, Letting Go Of The Status Quo
One of the many things I learned along my journey of reinvention was that I spent a long time ignoring the “whispers” or internal nudges that were telling me certain things in my life needed to change.
Oprah said something that, in retrospect, speaks vividly to what was occurring in my life, while I was in my phase of resisting the things that, deep down, I knew needed to change:
“The Universe speaks to us, always, first in whispers. And a whisper in your life usually feels like ‘hmm, that’s odd.’ Or, ‘hmm, that doesn’t make any sense.’ Or, ‘hmm, is that right?’ It’s that subtle. And if you don’t pay attention to the whisper, it gets louder and louder and louder. I say it’s like getting thumped upside the head. If you don’t pay attention to that, it’s like getting a brick upside your head. You don’t pay attention to that—the brick wall falls down. That is the pattern that I see in my life and so many other people’s lives. And so, I ask people, ‘What are the whispers? What’s whispering to you now?’”
There were many whispers that I didn’t pay attention to. Things would happen in my life that would stop me dead in my tracks and I’d literally hear myself saying, “Did that just happen?” or “This cannot be happening. It’s not right.”
In fact, my whispers were not even of the quiet type. They weren’t of the, “Hmmm, is that right?” variety. They were more direct, a clear knowing that “This isn’t right.” Yet I didn’t pay attention. I ignored them all, repeatedly, despite how loud they became. I ran away from the knowledge of what was wrong for me.
I believe we often run away from the knowledge of what is wrong for us because we are afraid of what that will mean for our lives. I know I was afraid because admitting things were wrong meant some big things would need to change and that was scary. I work with clients who often stay in dead-end jobs or in work environments they know are toxic for them. Why do they stay? Because they fear what paying attention to the whispers means – they fear the changes that may come if they do admit their dissatisfaction. What is whispering to you today? My advice is to not only pay attention to the whispers but do something about them before they become the brick wall crumbling down around you. No, it’s not always easy but there are ways for you to work through and even thrive during the change. Next week’s blog post will address some ways for you to thrive during change.
For more information on Andria’s upcoming book, please visit: www.lettinggoofthestatusquo.com
