It is so easy to find yourself traveling in a direction that you didn't plan, and often don't want to be in. Maybe it starts when you take a job that sounds like a perfect opportunity, but winds up being one that requires you to work too much, or some of the people are difficult, or the work is boring...and you become frustrated and feel stressed, and eventually you notice you are always tired or unhappy, and before you realize it another area of your life shifts in a negative way... you develop health problems or a relationship suffers. Perhaps it's not a job that sparked this shift, but instead financial problems, or a toxic relationship, or there is a more personal and spiritual cause.

I have hear stories of illness and or emotional suffering from so many people, and the common thread is the sense of "how did I get to this place?" The fact is, for most of us getting to "this place" doesn't happen overnight, it is a gradual process. We are so busy living life, we don't notice it happening until, BOOM - we become ill or find oursleves in a place of despair or great challenge and struggle. And then we wonder, "how did I get here?" I've been in this place...and know how easy it is move in the wrong direction without even realizing it. The great thing is once it happens it becomes easier to recognize the patterns before they lead to negative results the next time.

Stuff happens. Life goes off course. We get sick....we lose a loved one...we have too much to do and not enough time to do it....we are disappointed...we are unsure. That's just the reality of life. But great stuff can come from finding yourself in a place you didn't expect...you can learn a lot from illness, and loss, and disappointment. You learn to be grateful. You find out you are stronger than you thought you were. You discover you can do things you never thought you could. You learn that the world is full of so many loving, caring, wise and wonderful people. And so you find that although life doesn't always go according to plan, that you can find your way by making the choice to learn the lessons, to grow and change and adapt...and to not worry about how you go to this place, but instead focus on the bright and beautiful horizon that awaits just ahead. ~ Andrea :-)