A concept expressed by Robert Frost in his poem, The Road Not Taken, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
The fact is, each and every one of you have choices to make all the time. What I have discovered is that no choice is good or bad, but simply a choice. The consequence of your choice is what makes you determine if it was a good or bad one. If the choice you made brought joy, success, praise, and benefits, you determine it as good; if the choice you made brought suffering, pain, disappointment, and challenges, you determine it as bad.
Regardless of what happens after you make a choice, it is still an experience. If the perception of your choice is bad, my suggestion is to do your best to look for the silver lining in your experience and identify how you have benefited and gained knowledge from the experience. Neutralizing the charged experience will help you to eventually realize that it was purely just an experience and not the trauma that you envisioned.
This course of action and suggestion is difficult to wrap your head around at first, and many of you are probably saying, “No way! How can you say the hurt and disappointment I feel right now has benefited me?” Or, “How is this horrible health diagnosis such as cancer or dementia a good thing?”
I have met quite a few individuals over the past twenty years in, and outside, of my practice that shared that what they first deemed as a horrible death sentence or bad turn of events, helped them to shift out of a life that was no longer serving them. I have heard multiple stories of how a cancer diagnosis forced someone to focus on him or herself, for once, and allow others to take care of them. There was also a situation where a cancer diagnosis brought two individuals who were at odds with each other, to reconnect in a more understanding and loving way.
Yes, having the courage and trust in yourself, to take a path less traveled on, the unknowns involved, and taking a leap of trust, to create a new story and life is available to you. Making a decision to be authentic and stand separate from the crowd is not for the faint of heart. It’s extremely difficult, due to the simple fact that you are connected to your friends, loved ones, and all those in your immediate environment (i.e. entrainment).
The term, entrainment, “refers to a natural phenomenon in which one entity resonates synchronously with another in response to its dominant frequency of vibration” (“The Deeper Meaning of Entrainment” on January 31, 2013 by iAwake Technologies). By choosing your authentic self, you are willing to be true to yourself and make decisions that feel right to you even if so many others are going against this flow. However, when you do make a choice that is yours, it frees you to be the authority of your life.
Furthermore by cultivating an intimate relationship with your body and taking the time to understand your body’s signals and response to change and stress will help you to achieve your authentic self. Your body constantly gives you feedback on whether or not you are in alignment or not.
If you truly seek to be authentic and live your life fully, connecting your mind and body is essential to achieving this goal. Take time throughout the day to monitor how your body responds to stressful situations as well as tranquil moments. Purposely intending to pay attention to your body’s reactions will go a long way in achieving this connection, and eventually to know which path to take – the worn down one or the one less traveled.
