The following post is an excerpt from the book Sabbatical from “Yes” page 134
“Life is large, but most of us don’t take up nearly the space the universe intended for us. We take up this wee space ‘round our toes, which is why when you see somebody in the full flow of their humanity, it’s remarkable. They’re at least a foot bigger in every direction than normal human beings, and they shine, they gleam, they glow. It’s like they swallowed the moon.” SIRI LIV MYHROM
Air Traffic Control Tower
One of the most valuable aspects of creating a regular schedule for syncing up with your inner wisdom is that you get to step outside of the flow of your daily life and into a state of being rather than a state of doing. Whether it be during a lunch break on a park bench, a brisk walk outside, visiting with a friend, or journaling your thoughts, these moments of reflection are priceless. They create a space for us to hear ourselves more clearly and connect with our desires more deeply. As one last recommendation, I’d ask you to set aside a regular time on your calendar committed to an appointment with yourself. When you do this consistently at a regular time, you’re able to leverage the rhythm of connection, allowing for a greater flow of ideas, insights, and possibilities.
I’ve discovered that I work best when I collaborate with someone else and I’m less likely to skip the time if I have it scheduled with someone who’s depending on me to be there. For the last five years, I’ve had regularly scheduled sessions with my coach. And while you might not choose to include someone else in your inner wisdom time, you can still consider your time through the lens of my favorite metaphor for coaching and mentoring sessions, which is the air traffic control tower.
As you’re going through daily life, you’re responding to and taking in information at the street level. It’s busy, there’s a lot of traffic, noise, and distraction. If you’re not clear about where you’re going, it can be easy to get swept up in someone else’s priority and find yourself off track, missing a turn, underestimating the time it takes to go from one place to another, wandering around uncertain about where you even want to go. However, when you connect with your inner wisdom it’s like climbing up rungs of a ladder to the top of an air traffic control tower. With this higher level of perspective, you can see your life from a broader view. You can recognize the flight paths of people and projects, and whether or not there’s a collision in sight or if things will overlap or be happening in parallel. You can sense what adjustments will be needed, you can recognize new things on the horizon, you can hear your inner wisdom because, in this space, there’s only a distant hum of the traffic of life below. Your inner authority is loud and clear. Here you can make choices that nourish you and cultivate the kind of life that your soul desires. You can relish in and celebrate your accomplishments, both inner and outer, and you can reflect on and claim those nuggets of wisdom. You can say exactly what is on your mind without worrying about repercussions.
As I mentioned early in the book, there’s a power to doing this kind of work with other trusted companions on the path. If you have someone who’s gifted as a listener, she or he can lovingly hold space and be there to listen deeply for the desire under your words and act as your mirror, reflecting back to you so you can tune in and listen for yourself. They can assist you in recognizing mistaken beliefs that have been keeping you from following your soul’s desires and reframe them through the lens of your conditioning, protective armor and/or cultural expectations. To help you liberate yourself from them and see who you are without those filters, to hone back into what is true to you, and take steps to honor that and your soul’s desires.
Then you can climb back down to street level to navigate all the complexities of modern life with more confidence, joy, and ease, and less stress, because you’ve rooted yourself in self-awareness, deep self-trust, and exquisite self-care.
Your sabbatical was a version of this, and your regularly scheduled inner wisdom time will give you the opportunity to continue with this perspective. Being connected to your core you can navigate the unknown and everything else that will come your way. Listening to your inner wisdom will guide you through the expression of your soul’s desires and realizing your dreams.
Connection.
With your inner wisdom.
Connection.
With others.
And in my mind’s eye, I can see you. You’re a trailblazer. You’re blazing as a brilliantly beautiful light across the sky, your words and essence captured for all time, your conviction on behalf of your soul’s desires, your commitment to standing for yourself and in that also taking a stand for all of humanity.
I’m in awe of you.
It’s my deepest desire that through reading this book, taking the sabbatical and experimenting with the daily actions you have arrived back where you started, but this time reflecting back on yourself and your life with fresh eyes, and a soft, accepting and loving heart.
I would love to think of myself as cupid, but rather than matching you up with some other mate, I hope this experience has nudged you to see and fall in love with yourself. To be so full of yourself, so connected with your inner wisdom and so grateful for this experience of life that you’re willing to venture out of the safety of your comfort zone and stretch yourself out into the great unknown often and with enthusiasm, just to see what is possible for you.
When you are meeting your own needs at the highest levels, you have so much more to give to those you love. Everything you give to yourself, you’re also giving to humanity.
Thank you seems hardly enough. You have the depth of my appreciation for being willing to be unabashedly you.
I can’t wait to see you flashing your brilliance around!
Christi