When You know It’s Time For Something

I’m pretty good at recognizing what I need, but sometimes the solution doesn’t come to me right away. When I start feeling stagnant and bored, if I ignore it for too long, I suddenly find myself in the twilight zone of “Now what?” It doesn’t happen often (thankfully) so when it does I do pay attention.

I’m realizing, I don’t do well with gray, cold and damp weather. I crave the sun, it doesn’t even have to be warm, I just need to feel his warm rays or see his bright light. It’s been a long, cold winter here in Chicago. Sunny (my dog) loves it, but for me, it’s kept me indoors way too much. If I’m not working that particular day I try to keep a loose routine (that includes no daytime T.V, no eating the day away) - I try to keep it somewhat productive like putting my thoughts on paper, catching up with phone conversations, diving into  my ever growing pile of books, or perusing the podcast world of brilliant minds and their endless information. Whew, I’m tired just thinking about it all!!

The point is, I give myself permission to sit in the space of ‘now what.’ I’ve long surrendered the notion that just because I ask a question, I must have the answer right away. I trust that, ultimately, I’ll figure it out—but I also know I can’t force it. This winter, I became comfortable sitting with all the questions, even when the answers weren’t coming in rapid-fire sequence. In the end, the answers did come—some from me, and some from others.

I’ve come to realize that there were good reasons why this played out the way it did. When life is moving along smoothly, it’s easy to ignore the little nudges—but when I need to pay attention, life has its ways of making sure I do. How? By giving me a cold winter in Chicago, forcing me to hunker down, get quiet, listen, ground myself, realign with my truth, and simply wait... wait for the sun to bless me with its warmth.

I encourage everyone to slow down, tune in and keep the bag of resources very close by. There is a lot of uncertainty externally, which requires (I believe) more internal dialogue, checking in and grounding.The best part? No one knows what you need—or understands you—better than you do!

My takeaway - we’ve got this!!! The minute the crocuses start emerging from the frozen earth, they’re sending out a news flash - Spring is near and and the dull days of winter are behind us once again. But hey - don’t put the winter garments in storage just yet - coz you never know what last minute treat old man winter has left up his sleeve.

To be continued:

All the hibernating did lead to an experience. I’m still integrating the journey, and will definitely share when I can deliver it in a cohesive manor. For now, I will say I’m so glad I did it!