Enough is enough…. Or is it?
I am fortunate because most clients and workshop participants who come to me are highly motivated to change. They are tired enough of themselves or their s
ituations to want to evolve into someone new. Most are willing to trust the “soul health” process as I teach them to access their inner ally and gain the wisdom necessary to assist them on their path to radiant living. Many know from the beginning that it’s not enough for me to help someone heal. I want to help them evolve, so change is already part of the therapeutic vocabulary.
But how do you know if you’re changing enough? What is enough? And who gets the final say?
Conscious evolution is a complicated thing. First, you must be aware enough to know you need to change. Second, you must learn to assess what is misaligned in your life so you can create a plan to change it. Next, you have to muster the focus, energy and commitment to actually shift your life in the direction that you desire. If that isn’t enough, you then must also determine when and at what pace you must act so that you heed the voice of your soul.
Even more complicated is the ability to determine whether a person is changing enough to suit the needs of their soul. Like many, I struggled for years, wondering whether I was changing, evolving, or doing enough. Even a few months ago I jokingly asked a friend if sh
e thought Yoda, the wise character in the Star Wars series, ever wondered if he had done enough to fight the dark side and make the Universe better. She quipped back that he probably didn’t give a hoot (actually, using a much less “printable” word). But it does make you wonder whether Mother Teresa, Gandhi or any other spiritual influencer was concerned that they hadn’t done enough despite the incredible changes they had initiated.
There are also people who are so hungry to learn and grow that they get overwhelmed and mired in their urgency to create an internal shift. While this might seem noble and exciting, it is possible that they are missing the opportunity to experience change in a more mindful and “present” way.
Years ago when I was in graduate school a friend and I went to the Sand Dunes National Seashore in Indiana on the shore of Lake Michigan. This unique nat
ural monument hosts a large strip of tall dunes right on the beach of the lake. You must hike up over the sandy hills from the parking area, then descend to the beach in order to enjoy the water. On a distant left shore you can see the skyline of Chicago, while in the in front of you is a gigantic body of water that resembles an ocean, complete with sailboats, body surfers, and daredevil swimmers who go far beyond what might appear to be safe.
My friend had wandered up the beach, looking for shells so I had some time to myself to wade through the waves. For some reason I suddenly became very aware that everyone was either standing or sitting as they looked out at the vast water, appearing to be on the lookout for something they didn’t want to miss. It was almost odd to me that we had all, without speaking, trained our eyes on the rolling waves in front of us. At this moment, I did something that changed my world forever. I turned around and looked straight at the dunes instead of the water. I wanted to see what was happening behind the souls who were so interested in the other direction. I immediately noticed that the dunes were in constant, yet subtle movement. The light breeze shifted the dunes ever so slightly in
small but noticeable sheets, slowly scaling downward and settling quietly at the base. Just as one sheet reached the bottom, another one started its downward journey from the top of the dune. It was breathtaking to watch the constant, but gentle movement—sands cascading in what appeared to be a perfectly choreographed flowy dance. I looked around and saw that I was the only one paying attention to this immensely powerful act of nature. I stood and watched for several minutes until my friend returned. Not only had the dunes changed right before my eyes, I was also changed and remain so to this day.
The take-home message on that day was that even when we are looking for the big waves of change in front of us, we are likely changing and evolving behind the scenes – if only we took the time to notice.
The reality is, you can’t rush evolution and you can’t slow it down. If you are meant to learn, grow and evolve you will feel compelled to move forward in some way. If you are blocking your growth, then perhaps removing the obstacles is part of your evolution, whether this be to overcome old fears, patterns, or wounds. At the times when our evolution accelerates, there is little we can do to slow it down—we must go with the flow and see where change takes us.
If we feel we aren’t changing enough, we likely need to gain clarity for who and what we believe we are supposed to be. We must examine the roadblocks placed before us by others or ourselves. If we feel we are experiencing too much change, perhaps you need to explore how we’ve come to this conclusion.
Change can be difficult, but not changing can devastate our souls. Our soul—the very essence of who we are—is meant to evolve. It is destined to expand and reach its outer limit, whatever that might be for a particular individual. In aligning with our inner ally, we must learn to listen to the messages about growth—when we are pushing too hard and when we are trying to slow it down. The Universe seems to know when we need a kick in the pants to help us grow and sometimes it knows just what to do to temper our urgency as well.
Are you listening to the call of your soul to change something in your life?
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