Pathwalking 39
Perhaps circumstances have put you in a bad place. The question is – what do you do about it?
This is a key aspect of Pathwalking. Rather than being a victim of circumstance, the goal is to make your situations as you wish them to be. But a huge challenge to this goal is often the circumstances therein.
You certainly did not ask to lose the job, be incapable of paying the debt, be trapped in that relationship, be living where you live, or what-have-you. Life has put you where you are, and you are discontent with it. Do you lament your predicament, cast blame about…or do you take a more analytical approach?
This is important to Pathwalking. It is all about choice. If you have not made choices up to now that are making you happy, what do you do? The key is to analyze where you are, how you have gotten to where you are…and to move forward from here.
This is a profound issue I, personally, am constantly at odds with. Circumstances are not ideal – and though I am “fighting the good fight” and working to make and walk my own path, it is still hard to find the contentment I desire. I am still finding that this, that or the other thing seems to be at odds with this path. What do I do?
These are the things I suggest to approach this problem:
Meditation. Take stock in the situation. I am where I am…now what do I do about it? How did I get here? More importantly – what actions can I take to leave here, and get where I desire to truly be?
Analysis. Write out the issues and problems you are facing; then write out the solution or solutions, brainstorm ideas. Put it online, put it in a journal, just take the time to somehow write it, and place it where you can see it, refer to it, and explore it more deeply.
Planning. Make a plan. What can you do in order to break free of the circumstance that is having this negative effect on you? What actions can you take in order to make, find, and then walk the path you desire? It’s important to write this out, think about it, and plan what you can do.
Action. DO what you need to do to break free of unwanted circumstances. You’ve meditated on this, you’ve analyzed it, you have devised a plan – now act. This, in a lot of respects, is the hardest part of this. Action can be scary, and it can often involve, in the instance of walking the path, something of a leap of faith. But without action, you will remain a victim of your circumstances.
Gratitude. Express gratitude for what you have now. Express gratitude for what you WILL receive from taking this action. Feel the success, feel the accomplishment that comes from taking this action, and know that you will be free of unwanted circumstances very very soon.
Five steps. Easy enough to read, easy enough to understand. The hard part, of course, is DOING these things, and taking these steps. But this is the key to breaking free of undesired circumstances.
The things that are NOT helpful, and should be avoided are the following: Blame, despair, depression, anger. Demanding to know “Why me??” These often come to us easily – but they will interfere with our path, interfere with us getting where we wish to go.
We cannot control every circumstance we find ourselves in. What we CAN control, of course, is how we react to our circumstances, and how we deal with them. We have control of our actions, our thoughts, our emotions. And that is what we need to employ in order to deal with the most difficult situations that may arise.
Remember – we are choosing to walk our own paths. When we make that choice, we accept the responsibility for those things we have control over. We acknowledge that our thoughts, our emotions, our intentions are ours to choose. And that is why Pathwalkers are not victims of circumstance – when all is said and done, Pathwalkers are not victims of anything
Think. Premeditate you actions, consider them, explore them, act upon them, and then be grateful for what you have and what you WILL have. This is both deeply simple and immensely complicated. But this is part of the choices we make when we choose to walk our own path.
Do you work on your circumstances, or do your circumstances work on you?
This is the thirty-ninth entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Thank you for joining me.
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