Spirituality

Listen to Within

Since I wholeheartedly believe in this process, I have relied on this advice, which requires faith and trust. Recently, I broke my collarbone and spent the first two days in bed, knowing that it would be extremely tough for me to lie in one place for 48-72 hours. I made sure to pretend that I was in a hospital bed and that I could not get up. I continued to follow the advice that I had listened for.

Sometimes, the guidance is about others. One Saturday, my husband and I were doing hard, physical landscaping for over 12 hours. At the end of the day, his back was killing him and I was certainly ready to stop. There had been a picture that I had so wanted on the wall at our new lakefront home and so my husband and his father spent the last 15 minutes putting this picture up—just for me. When his father pulled the picture down it slipped and pulled out a good six-inch chunk of drywall. My husband looked at me and snapped, “This was really a project we had to do, wasn’t it, Carol?”

I felt that his reaction was unfair because although I wanted the project done, I certainly had not asked them to do it at the end of the day. Secondly, he had snapped at me. He had made it sound like it was my fault that there was a hole in the wall. I was furious and as a result I went to bed angry and tired. The next morning was my day to listen to God. As I lay in bed and waited for another warm and nurturing message, I heard the following advice: “Take better care of your husband.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. My husband, who genuinely is a nice guy, had been so mean to me the night before. Why should I take better care of him! What about me, I thought. I wanted another nurturing message about me.

Well, I woke my husband up and asked him if he wanted a back massage, knowing that he had done such hard physical labor the day before. He looked at me with that look of, “Who are you and what have you done with my wife!” He knew that he would likely be in the doghouse for his negative reaction from the night before. I smiled, gave him the back rub, and continued with my directive. The rest of the day was spent enjoying each other and appreciating the closeness we felt. I would never have gone into the morning with such a turn of emotions had I not listened.

Many people pray for guidance and I find that being still and waiting for direction is by far more effective in creating the life I deserve.

Your challenge is to spend the next eight weeks designating a day to lie in bed and listen for guidance from God or from a higher power or from that quiet knowing from within. If you don’t have a specific faith, then direct it to the universe or to your ability to be a conduit for what you unconsciously need to know. I forewarn you; it is incredibly powerful and will guide you to places that are unexpected. It certainly breaks the chain of relying solely on emotion to make your decisions. For you intellectuals out there, it certainly gives you another perspective from which to make decisions.