Tag: darkness

Stepping into the Unknown

When you’ve acted out in faith, readjusted your direction and continued to move in a path that is unfamiliar to you, how are you stepping into the unknown? You know, you’ve observed your unfamiliar surroundings, saw the dark void ahead, slowly and carefully you take that step and move yourself into the void.

Fade to Black

You find yourself standing in utter darkness. You cannot hear anything. There is no sense of which way the air is moving. You can breathe, feel something solid beneath your feet, and you exercise your ability to vocalize, “Hello?” and you notice your voice appears to be dead as you can hear yourself speak the word but there is no reverberation.
You wonder where you’ve found yourself, if there’s anyone out there? “Is anybody there?”
Silence.

There you are. You. Only you.

You are here. Feeling lost and alone.

What do you do when you find yourself stepping into the unknown?

No one would blame you for immediately turning about-face and running back to what you know, what is familiar, in the direction which seems more safe and secure.

You might find yourself carefully crouching yourself down into a face forward lotus position placing yourself in a meditative state or sending out your extended senses, projecting them forward to see if you can “feel” what’s ahead.

Or you might curl up in the fetal position and go deep inside yourself, evaluating where you’ve come from, what brought you to this place, and contemplate your decision to take this step in this direction which has led to your stepping into the unknown.

You may have the composure and dedication to realize it was you who brought you here, you know why, and you’re committed enough to keep moving forward, so you take half a step forward. You may not be able to see what’s ahead or know if your next step will offer you a firm footing, or if you will find yourself falling into eternal darkness. Determined, you take another step.

Then there’s the you who channels your inner Rambo. Finding yourself stepping into the unknown, your quickened as you stop to evaluate your surroundings as you find yourself stepping into the unknown, grit your teeth as you summon all your inner strength, and let out your mightiest warrior call, as you run straight forward into the void.

If you’re like me, your life has had a lot of situations where you have found yourself stepping into the unknown. At different times, we’ve tried all these approaches to finding ourselves in the unknown void.

Sometimes, turning and running is the best option.

I find myself transitioning through all the phases.

But in all cases, the best opportunities for growth and change comes from moving forward into the unknown.

When you step into the transitionary vacuum corridor, you have no idea what is on the other side of it.

There is only one way to find out.

For what is unknown to be known, you must move forward. It need not be at supersonic speed, baby steps will do. It is there, ahead of you, waiting for you to discover it.

If you’ve done it before, what did you find there?

If you are stepping into the unknown, right now, what do you think might be ahead waiting for you?

Check back with me and tell me what you found on the other side.

Hanging Out with Drunks

In an analogy in The Mastery of Love, don Miguel Ruiz relates an example of hanging out with drunks at a bar or party as a comparison of how most of us live life. You hang out with these people who are just like you, they are all numb and drunk, having a good time, and every once and a while someone breaks out in a vast drama, but for the most part, you and the rest of the group are smiling, laughing, enjoying yourself, the camaraderie and you’re happy hanging out with drunks.

Then, once you begin to awaken to a higher version of life and start seeing things as they really are, it’s like being the only sober person at the party. After you’ve become more aware about life in general and your own life, numbing yourself is no longer desired or necessary to help you get through this life.

You think this is all well and good, but you remember how fun it felt when you were hanging out with drunks, so you go out to spend the evening with your friends.

Only now, you’re not compelled to drink, and you are not drunk. From this vantage point, your experience of hanging out with drunks is very different. You see people numbing themselves because they are looking for ways to avoid the reality of living the life they lead. You see them all celebrating the fog they all share, and while they appear to be happy, there is no happiness in them.

After a while, they notice you are not drunk, you are not joining them in their drunken celebration of not having to deal with life, and they accuse you of having something wrong with you.

The drunks prefer you to drink and enjoy being drunk with them. When you fail to participate and turn down their offers to buy you a drink so that you can essentially be an active participant with the other drunks, they get paranoid about you, see you as an outsider.

The drunks feel your sobriety as a drain on the energy of the overall group, you’re a downer, spectator, spy, or judging them like a self-righteous goody two shoes, and while none of this is true, you don’t feel like you fit in with this group of people anymore.

You are less enthusiastic about hanging out with drunks. You don’t judge them or feel sorry for them (because that would be condescending). You realize we’re all doing the best we can with what we have, honor the time that you spent with this group as a necessary part of your journey, you love and bless them.

There comes a time when you start to look for other people to hang out with, people who are more resonate with your current frame of mind, people who do not feel the need to numb themselves and disassociate their connection to this life.

You keep your eyes open and aware enough to find people who are more like you with whom you can associate and socialize with.

Periodically, the drunks will notice your absence and seek you out to rejoin them in their drunkenness because they believe being drunk is an important part of life and they feel your lack of drunkenness is not good for you. They know how awful it would be for them to try to manage life without being drunk. Just the thought of it represents pain for them, so they want to save you by inviting you to come back.

All of this is perfectly normal and fine in all its awkwardness as you move from the day-to-day struggle for survival in everyday life, to enlightenment.