Turn your wounds into wisdom and your stumbling blocks into stepping stones. – Robin Sharma
Some of us have blocks; some have walls and others have fences. Whatever you call yours, they are the unconscious beliefs we hold, or emotional wounds not yet healed, often developed at a very young age, that stop us from moving forward or making a change that would benefit us.
They are hard and unyielding, and imprison us. They trip us up and spiral us down emotionally. They stand in our way and divert us from our true path and what we truly desire.
And it’s hard to heal them because often we don’t even realize they are there. I’ve come to know that when the only thing standing in my way is me and my negative thoughts, then that’s a block my tired, old beliefs put there.
Finding your block and understanding it is fundamental to keeping it from showing up again and again, quietly infiltrating every part of your life. Because after all, life is an interconnected web. You know those goals you have for your work, your relationship, your health, your spirituality, and your joy? While they seem distant cousins, they are interrelated, and all of them will be thwarted by that little old block at some point. It’s that powerful, relentless and insidious.
What if you could step over your block or use it as a stepping stone? What if you could envision a beautiful gate in your fence or a wall with a secret opening?
What becomes possible when you truly see the block, disempower it by naming it (I see you!), and transmute it by finding a way through it? You step onto your path, you walk through the gate of possibility, and you see with clarity what your future holds. To see, name, and transform what’s holding you back is both calming and liberating. The power that was in it, is now in you….
Change can either challenge or threaten us. Your beliefs pave your way to success or block you. – Marsha Sinetar
When you come up against a block or fence or wall in your life, look within. Be curious. Understand why it’s there without falling into the death spiral of blaming someone else or yourself for it being there. It just is. Name it (why that’s, “I’m not enough,” “I don’t deserve this” or “I’m afraid I’ll fail”). Feel your power as you recognize your belief for what it is. While at one point it may have protected you, now it’s no longer serving you, and it is in your way.
Come to see your block as a stone on a path in a beautiful Japanese garden; your fence with a curved wooden door, opening onto a gorgeous courtyard; your wall with a secret cavern opening to the sea. Your new beliefs are beautiful and spacious and they support you.
Take a step on the path. Open the door. Feel your burden lighten. See the possibilities before you. Walk on and through to where you truly want to be.
Postscript. As I was finishing this post, I came across a wonderful resource by Mary O’Malley, What’s in the Way, is the Way: A Practical Guide for Waking up to Life. You may think I named my post after it, but it was actually the other way around. I named the post first and then it just showed up. That’s the way life can be when we fully open to it.