Have you ever embarked on a new adventure with a feeling of great anticipation and excitement – anxious to reach your destination, to arrive and experience that feeling of accomplishment?

Making the decision to create a change, or choose a new direction in your life, whether it be in your career, your personal relationships, with family or in terms of your priorities is just the first step – one of many first steps we take in our lifetime.

When someone chooses to explore their spiritual nature and begin a journey of personal growth, it can be equally exciting.

There are many reasons for making such a decision.  Perhaps a long-time relationship has run its course.  Maybe your work is no longer fulfilling.  Or it could be that you have just lost a loved one and are having difficulty filling the void.  Then there are the times we simply feel we’re at a crossroads in our life and we don’t necessarily want to continue straight on in the same direction.

So, you decide to explore your spirituality, to focus on you – there’s got to be more to life than what you are experiencing right now and you want to find out what it is; or, there’s got to be a better way to live, a way to feel healthier and/or happier.

You start to feel that excitement and anticipation.  You dream of finding answers, feeling fulfilled, at peace with yourself and those around you……  Let the change and growth begin!  So you sign up for a class, or make an appointment for a healing, or some counseling or all of the above.

The beginning of the journey is just as you expected – illuminating, rejuvenating, exciting, fun and more.  Each day seems to bring with it a new awakening, a new adventure, a new awareness of you!

Then one day you wake up and feel as if you have walked into a wall!  Your thoughts are confused and your head feels fuzzy.  You can’t seem to focus and you have little or no energy or enthusiasm.

This is what we call a growth period – a time of adjusting to all the new information you have received, a time of integrating your renewed spiritual awareness – and it can be uncomfortable, even painful for both you and your body!

This is also the time when some people will rethink their decision, and perhaps return to the safer more predictable path of the past.

Spiritual growth, awakening, awareness – it all sounds positive and exciting and IT IS, but that doesn’t mean that it is always pretty, easy or comfortable.  And even though we may have an image or concept of what that journey will be like, it can be filled with unforeseen twists, turns, mountains to conquer and seemingly endless plateaus.

A couple of years ago I decided to participate in the Breast Cancer 3-day event in Seattle, a charity walk of 60 miles over the course of 3 days in order to raise funds for a cure.  I was excited about this adventure and I trained for close to a year in order to be able to successfully complete the walk.

In my mind’s eye, I pictured how the 3 days would go.  I figured Day One would be the simplest as I would be filled with excitement, adrenalin and enthusiasm for the adventure.  I reckoned that Day Two would be a little less easy because I would be tired from the previous day’s walk and I imagined Day Three to be the toughest of all – that it would drag on for an eternity and I would be exhausted.

The beginning of Day One was just as I imagined and I launched into the walk with excitement and enthusiasm.  Then as the day wore on and we got closer to reaching camp, my body began to stiffen and tire.  The last 3 miles were all up hill through the streets of a Seattle suburb and each time I thought we had reached the top of the hill, there would be a short plateau and we would climb again.

When I reached camp I was happy but a little disillusioned and I had no certainty about being able to complete the next two days.

As it happened, I just had it the wrong way round in my mind’s eye.  Day Two was a little easier and Day Three was the easiest of all!  In the end I reached my destination as planned, but in a way that was quite different than I had envisioned.

The same can be said of the road to exploring your spiritual nature – who you are as a soul personality, and what you came here to accomplish and experience.  The trick is not to give up when you hit that wall, or come across a mountain to climb or even remain on a seemingly endless plateau for a while.

Those places are all part of the journey and the best way to manage them is with amusement and acceptance!

Strap yourself in, and enjoy the ride!