It happens to all of us. A fork in the road can be a time when change comes, whether we are ready or not, and we have no choice but to meet the change in front of us. We may be forced into a new direction. The door closes and we may be searching for which new door to open.
Sometimes we will meet the fork in the road with sudden awareness that we have hit a bottom line for what we are willing to tolerate. We will deliberately choose a new direction and leave the well-known, familiar path behind.
We may be confronted by someone else’s choice to part ways and choose another path.
The fork in the road can be a relationship, a job, a contract, or a lifestyle habit. It can be somewhere you have lived, and now it’s time to make a change.
It can be the physical loss of someone close, or some other loss that leaves a jarring emptiness.
Any time we hit a fork in the road, for any reason, we will have to find our way on a new path and follow a new direction. It may feel like we’ve been ejected from our comfort zone into the unknown-SCARY!
How can you meet the edge of the unknown without stress?
By its nature, change creates chaos. It is through the chaotic waves of change that we find a new direction or a new pattern.
Chaos and the unknown can easily open the door to resistance and stress- as they go hand-in-hand, especially when we would prefer to stay with what is familiar.
Choosing calm in the face of change is a choice we can make when we deliberately pick up our tools for resilience and courage. Once the freakout settles, we can take inventory of our options to meet this fork in the road as a challenge and not the end of life as we know it!
The key is to pause and take a deep breath into our center- that place in our lower belly where our intuition and introspection are seated. Take a few breaths to release the freakout and come home into your core. This will feel energy-conserving to return your focus to your center.
Next, thoughtfully ask “How will I meet this new direction in a way that supports me to stay open and curious to see what unfolds?” Asking how and not what is essential to stay in a solution mindset.
The next step is critical. What do I have control over and what is beyond my control? Gain clarity about realistic steps you can take and what is outside of your circle to impact.
What resources do I have to support me through this big change? Friends? Family? Prayer? Meditation? Nature? Pets? You may find you have many within your support system that will increase courage and dampen fear.
It can be hard to feel calm and focused when you are standing at a confronting fork in the road, whether you are the instigator or it came from outside of you.
Trust your gut, follow your instinct. Use your tools! Stay curious!
What is so interesting is that when we look back at these big chaotic waves of change, we can see a new perspective. How often these forks in the road are exactly what we need to move forward beyond of our comfort zone to meet the unexpected that are so often the hidden gem of opportunity for something even better.
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