Following the way of spirit is no different from setting out on any journey. First we decide to take the journey, then we prepare and then we commit. When we start out on a path we have a goal in mind, we know where we are aiming for, but we don't know what will meet us on the way. We take with us those resources that can help ease out journey and we may also have a companion, but we are still open to pausing as and when we need to. We are committed, yet we don't know what challenges or riches the course will bring us. We prepare. We have an idea, yet when we encounter challenges we may feel like giving up and turning back.
So it is when we decide to follow the way of spirit. Some inner calling propels us in a particular direction. We do not know what or who will meet us our way, but we keep going. This is a choice. Once we have made it, all of life falls in with our choice. If we change our mind, we also change our course. When we turn back we also turn back our life experience. However, if we commit to seeing things through to the end, we empower our self to participate no matter what meets us. We make the goal more important than the obstructions that appear on the way. We then allow our self to be present to what is and hold a clear intention for where we aim. This strengthens our courage and determination.
Getting too stuck in wanting something to be a certain way means we may never receive the gift of commitment. Commitment isn't simply arriving; its the depth of experience in getting there. It is all the relationships, the scenery, the learning, the emotion and the integration as we participate in the whole journey. The journey is the way. It brings us the pattern of our life and there are no short cuts. The way of spirit includes being present in the moment of what is being gifted to us right now, allowing it and welcoming the time that it takes. Then we know our spirit.
