The Path to Becoming

I will never know, neither will you, the life we didn’t live

Filled with beauty and love and joyous perfection but not ours

We embrace our being when we accept the path to our becoming.
~ Nalini Priyadarshni

This speaks wonderfully to me about releasing wistful thoughts of what “might have been,” focusing instead with renewed energy and hope on journeying toward our own best version of a human.

Being resilient means bouncing back from setbacks and disappointments as we let go of “the life we didn’t live.” 2020 dished out life lessons left and right, and “teachable moments” continue to pelt us. Our paths have included creating new ways to live and work unimaginable a short while ago. We’ve lost loved ones and missed celebrating major milestones. Many of us women have taught the kids, cared for ill family members, lost livelihoods and struggled to stay well ourselves.

Many have suffered, yet some of us have also breathed a sigh of relief from frenetic lifestyles and their impacts on humanity and our beautiful planet. Courage, consciousness and kindness have blossomed in the midst of travail as we’ve realized all we can control is our own reaction to what happens in the world. Some have made the discovery that the choice to mindfully choose how we respond is a superpower if we claim it.

Food for thought:

What resilience muscles have you developed during these seismic changes that tap into your best and most authentic self as you’ve risen to the occasion?
How has your vision of your future changed?
What gifts of insight and wisdom from this time of chaos, change and challenge will serve you well going forward?
Perhaps you have more clarity about what’s truly important and precious. How can you move toward that and let go of what/who doesn’t serve you so well anymore?

For all of us there are unmapped areas where we’re still navigating “the path to our becoming.” As Michele Obama observed, “Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there’s more growing to be done.” Both gentle patience and determined rigor are vital on this path to becoming the most you you.

Reflecting and listening to our inner wisdom’s whispers serves as a compass and helps us trust ourselves to move forward in a way healthy for our soul, even as unthinkable events unfold around us. I do my best reflective thinking crunching through leaves in the woods, sitting by a cascading waterfall or crossing a mountain stream on a mossy log. What about you?

May you be gentle and kind with yourself on this evolving journey, including giving yourself permission to take one day at a time. Trust me – you are wise and powerful.

Cynthia

A few more path quotes for you:

If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads.
~ Anatole France
Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.
~ Henry David Thoreau
In a forest of a hundred thousand trees, no two leaves are alike. And no two journeys along the same path are alike.
~ Paulo Coelho
For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.
~ Michelle Obama