There is a hand written letter that sits on my altar. Like everything that graces this sacred space, it was a gift. Secured from drafts of air by a moonrock, it sits opposite my incense burner, beside my candles of light and dark, behind gifts of stone and string and beads and leather. I am lucky to have so many teachers in my life – mentors who, like guiding lights, help me reconnect to my roots, to my power, to myself. And at a time of particular overwhelm and uncertainty, one of these teachers wrote me this letter.
It is one of my most prized possessions.
Today, I had one of those mornings where I question everything. What is my purpose? What am I supposed to be doing? What is the point of this thing called life? I knelt before my altar and pled my case: show me the path, show me the path, please please please show me the path. And as I begged the universe to show me my path, my eyes lit on two sentences that curled through the centre of my sacred letter.
You were born for this. All of it.
The thing about paths is that they don’t always lead to our chosen destination. They can be tricksy, sneaky things – curling and winding and branching. We may think we have lost our way, only to end up somewhere better than we ever could have imagined. Or we may think we know exactly where we’re going, only to find a twelve headed dragon blocking the way.
Most of us crave certainty. If I take A to B, and B to C, I will end up at D. It’s why we gravitate towards the light, shy from the darkness that limits our line of sight. But life itself is uncertain. The more we cling to our carefully laid plans, avoid surprises, and rigidly stay the course, the more we close ourselves to messages from the universe, or god, or the creator – take your pick. And the message the universe seems to keep wanting me to learn is this: we don’t need to have it all figured out. We don’t always need to know. Sometimes, we must simply trust our gut, have faith in our intuition, and step into the dark of the unknown.
Wherever your heart takes you, whether a path of gold or one lined with monsters, remember that you were born for this. The struggles, the triumphs, the uncertainty and pain and joy and everything in between. You were made for THIS life. Embrace all of it. Every messy, gorgeous, glorious minute. In the words of my teacher, live lavishly and walk gracefully.
