Oh my gosh is this one hard for me. I struggle with control issues daily and this guidepost is for sure a work in progress. I mean, who doesn’t like certainty? The problem is that almost nothing is certain. Things can change in an instant and we have to learn how to readjust and move forward.
Learning to trust our intuition is paramount for moving forward in many situations. If we can combine that with trusting faith or that things will ultimately be okay we can learn to be resilient despite what struggles arise in our lives. That doesn’t mean they won’t be hard or painful, but that we can move forward and grow from them.
A few years ago I was looking to connect with some other passionate people and met a colleague who was extremely energetic and was aligned with many of my values. I thought this was a sign for me to pursue working alongside this person and let them know I was available in any capacity to help their non-profit. I didn’t want to appear too needy or like some weird stalker so I would email them about it and wait weeks at a time for a response. There was none. When I did finally speak with someone else at the organization they suggested I get involved with another branch of it. I was introduced to yet another person who I waited and waited to hear back from. Again, no response. I even offered to pick up pizza for a meeting they held just to help out.
This felt like a total rejection to me and feelings of unworthiness surfaced. I had hoped this would be my path but everything that was happening kept screaming to me that it wasn’t. I had to unpack my own issues and realize that it likely had nothing to do with me. Once I sat with it, I realized that I would have been promoting someone else’s dream and needed to get more clear about my own. I had to trust that I would figure out what my dream was and that the awesome and passionate people I was looking for would show up in some other way.
Fast forward to today: I have created Daring Women and I am just starting to meet so many amazing, inspiring and energetic women. These women want to show up – there is no begging, pleading or feelings of unworthiness. Had I not trusted my intuition about the non-profit not being a good match I might have pushed it, getting involved in a group that wasn’t right for me. Or I could have sat in resentment or feelings of unworthiness and not have changed a thing. Instead I trusted my intuition that there was more out there and I knew that the universe would give me signs along the way that if I was taking the right path.
Our intuitions are so important so please make sure you are taking time to check in with yours and if something really doesn’t “feel right,” do what feels right in your gut.
P.S. The non-profit I am referencing is a great group run by great people. I am by no means suggesting otherwise – I am merely saying there was a reason things didn’t line up. And I am so grateful they didn’t.