The Truth About Transformation

I think that one of the most under communicated thing about taking a journey of transformation and empowerment is how it’s not a straightforward path from here to there.  There are twists, there area turns, there are bumps.  Some parts of it are exhilarating and some parts are rough.  There will be tears, there will be laughter, there will be joy, and there will be fear.  It’s not a beautifully paved path of non-stop transcendental bliss.  There will be aha! moments that exhilarate you and then a little further down the road you’ll have another aha! moment that supplants the first one.  You’ll realize you weren’t wrong before, but you just see it more clearly now.  There will be moments where you feel so full of love for yourself that you’re crying and you realize that under all that is tremendous healing.  You’ll have moments where you think, I finally get it, only to realize later on that no, you actually didn’t get it you’re still learning.  But it’s worth every second of that because at no point do you ever feel like that was a waste of time and energy, because you realize that each one of those moments were necessary to get you to where you are now and where you are now is so much better than where you were.

In my own journey I had so many moments of clarity that made me come alive.  Truths that I recognized and lived by.  Until I found my next truth and lived by it.  Until I found my next truth and lived by it.  And on and on.  For somebody who is desperate to uncover who they are and live a truly meaningful life those moments can be scary!  The first few truths might all mesh well together so you’re living by this handful of beliefs, but then you get one that doesn’t necessarily mesh so well, and you think to yourself…wait, I’m I doing this right?  Did I just undo all the good I did before? Will this ever end? The answer to those are yes, no, and no.  This isn’t a journey with an end point, but that’s a beautiful thing.  If it wasn’t it would be like planting corn and seeing the stalk and thinking, well it’s a grown plant now I’ve done it!  Well, no because then you don’t get the magic of the ears of corn it produces.  And, if we roll with that metaphor, if you then you allow the corn to appear and say well then surely this must be it. No, because then you miss the magic of tasting the corn, turning it into popcorn, or cornbread, or taking those and planting them so then you get a whole field of corn with all of its infinite possibilities.  The journey doesn’t end, nor should you want it to.

Think of a time in your life when you thought if I could only get “this” then I would be happy.  When you got that thing, were you happy?  Or did you then think, well now that I’ve got this if I could only get that, then I’d be happy?  And then you got that thing.  The cycle goes on and on and on, but there’s always something else you strive for.  That “thing” could be material, emotional, physical, spiritual, etc.  It doesn’t matter what the thing is, there’s always a drive to continue on once you have it.  Why should a journey of transformation and empowerment be any different.  The truly beautiful part is that every milestone that you hit has changed you fundamentally both physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  You are no longer the same person you once were, there is no going back.  To me that’s a huge comfort because as Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, “On this path effort never goes to waste; and there is no failure.  Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear”.

When you can accept the beauty of this never-ending path you realize you wouldn’t want it to be any other way.  Because suddenly you have all these tools that allow you to live your life in a better way.  It’s more meaningful, more pleasing, and you feel more alive and in control than you ever did.  Transformation is empowerment.  Owning your joy, taking the power of that back for yourself, is one of the most important things we can do in life.  And it might be tempting to ask well if it never ends what is the point?  The point is to enjoy life, to live it with purpose even if that purpose is only to enjoy life.  When do you feel most alive?  For me, it’s when I’m loving and laughing, having moments of clarity and connection to source.  That’s the point of it all.  Now, don’t get me twisted, there will always be moments of conflict, or contrast, that spark a desire for something different, a yearning for more.  And suddenly you’re off on the next leg of your journey.  Because at the end of the day the point of the journey isn’t the destination, it’s the journey itself.  Uncovering parts of yourself you didn’t know existed, unearthing passions you didn’t know you had, finding bliss in the ordinary, and the possible in the impossible.

Every time I have another aha! moment I’m thrilled because I’ve reached a milestone I didn’t even know existed.  I feel like I’ve achieved something beautiful and my soul feels a bit fuller than it did the moment before. I never feel like what came before was wasted, in fact I’m usually in awe of what I’ve accomplished.  My days are easier, my thoughts are kinder, and the ripple effect I have on others grows wider.  I listen to myself and trust in my intuition in a way I never could have done when I was at the depths of my anxiety and depression.  And I feel such relief in knowing I can never go back to that place because of how far I’ve come.  Sometimes I wonder if I was an artist what kind of art I’d be creating, or a musician what kind of songs I’d put out into the world, or a poet what kind of poems, or a chef what kind of food, or a researcher what I’d be unearthing, or a parent what kind of child would I be raising with each and every level up I accomplish. 
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Nope, the journey of transformation isn’t a straightforward path.  But would it be as rewarding as it is if it were?  Would you celebrate each monumental moment, and even the little ones, as deeply.  Would you be as proud?  I can honestly say that for me, the answer to each one of those questions is no.  And I won’t lie, when you hit one of those bumps and stumble there can, and probably will be, moments of worry and doubt.  But you can always remind yourself that the stumble is just illuminating a clearer part of your path, and is an opportunity to keep growing and changing.  When I hit one, I catch myself and think ok, what is this teaching me?  How can I find the upside to this moment?   What am I learning and how can I grow and change?  And when all else fails, if I really can’t find a positive, I simply remind myself I can never go back to the person I was before and that alone is a reason to be joyful.