The Obstacles of Evolution

What happens when you fear moving forward? Or when you overthink your life so much that you become mired and unable to take even a small first step? Or when you doubt yourself, others, or the world so much that you sink back into a dormant slump? Or when you try to plan your life so much that you get stuck in the idea that things won’t go “just right” so you don’t make a move at all?Did these questions just sum up your life?

As humans, we do all sorts of things to block our evolution. At first glance, it may seem easier to avoid change. But our long-term discomfort of not moving forward always outweighs the immediate challenge of deciding to do things differently right now.
Even though I believe whole-heartedly in evolution, I can also fall prey to this challenge of the human condition. With all of the many changes I’ve undergone in just a short few months, my stress level has been unusually high – particularly with the purchase of a larger office space. There was something daunting about writing a sizeable check and committing to another mortgage that really had my soul stirred. For weeks, I churned, obsessed, and worried about all of the “what if’s”. I lost sleep, my muscles were super tense, and I found myself distracted at the worst possible times (while driving, writing, etc.).

Then I had a conversation with spirit. While lying awake one night, I decided to get in touch with my soul – my inner ally, open up to the Universe and ask, “What is this about? Why am I so stressed? Am I making the wrong decision?” The sacred response was that I had chosen to “expand and align” as my theme for the year and that I was facing some of the biggest steps in my evolution for this place and time. To not move forward would be a block to my evolution and I was urged to face the discomfort and move beyond my fear. Yes, there were multiple layers of my own growth at stake, but more would be lost if I didn’t step into my evolution.

I have to laugh at my late night “counseling sessions” with spirit because they always nail me the way I nail others in my psychotherapy and coaching practice. I sometimes have to hear my own words in order to nudge myself forward. But sometimes Universe has to gently kick me in the butt as well.

There are many acronyms floating around for the word F.E.A.R.: “False Evidence Against Reality”, “False Events Appearing Real”, and so on. To me these are nice reality checks to our faulty beliefs, but I prefer to have an inspirational message actually bump me out of an unhelpful rut. You may have seen me write before that my own acronym for F.E.A.R. is “Forge Earnestly Ahead Regardless”. Of course, you do have to weigh whether your soul is, in fact, cautioning you from making a bad decision or nudging you to move forward for a fruitful return.

There is a big difference between the experience of fear and that of pre-growth. Keep in mind that fear ALWAYS precedes evolution. Making important decisions and weighing out the various outcomes is a necessary part of moving beyond our old ways. Also, it is important to remember that our destiny – the wonderful ways of the Universe – is often much smarter than we are; it knows what we need in order to evolve, providing wonderful twists and turns that season and nourish your soul along the way. As you enter a state of conscious evolution, you learn to recognize that the experience of the human condition IS part of your soul’s evolution. It is what we do with it – move forward or stay mired – that makes all of the difference in our personal growth.

Using Hindu terms, our karma is what we create as we evolve—we create good karma if we do good things both for our self and others, while we create bad karma if we do otherwise. Dharma is the “cosmic law” – the universal truth and divine order of reality. So, when you think of your soul’s evolution, we must push through our discomfort to do good things for ourselves despite the fear that might precede our decision to do so; we much forge earnestly head regardless in order to evolve.

A few weeks ago, I took a private cooking lesson from a woman in South Carolina who teaches Indian cuisine. Not only did we create and eat wonderful food, but we also had a very nourishing conversation about karma. Coming from a traditional Indian family, she and her husband met as the result of an arranged marriage. To me, this would have been terrifying. But it was beautiful to hear her story as she talked about meeting potential partners – she listened deeply within herself to acknowledge which one would be a good match. She noted that despite her fear of what was to come, once she met her current husband, she knew that everything would be just fine. She noted that it was when she quieted her thoughts and tuned in to this man’s energy that she heard the call to marry. She talked about the divine order of bringing them together at just the right time and related a very happy union. We met her husband during the lesson and he was, in fact, a very lovely and caring man.

When we open to the Universe, it opens up to us. Throughout my book, Soul Health, I talk about the need to “clean out” what is not working in our lives so we can “fill up” with what is or will work to align our lives for radiant living. More and more of my clients are recognizing their ability to “tune into” spirit and hear what it has to say to guide them on their evolutionary path. The “cleaner” our human condition – the more resolution we have with both our past and our current situation – the more able we are to connect with Source or Spirit. That divine connection IS the experience of soul health. But we cannot reach this divine state if we are blocking our evolution.

If you are committed to your evolution, you are willing to remove the obstacles of your evolution. Spend some time thinking about – and releasing – whatever it is that is impeding your soul’s growth.

Then Forge Earnestly Ahead Regardless.