See Beyond the Obstacles

I don't usually talk about my spiritual life publicly, but a recent church sermon really got me thinking.

We had a guest priest saying the mass, an Irish friend of our pastor. He mentioned the story of St. Bernadette, who heard the voice of Mary every day for 2 weeks. (I felt very close to St. Bernadette as a child so I paid close attention to this story!)

Mary asked Bernadette to visit the grotto day after day and her persistence and passion started to draw very large crowds. (Her hometown of Lourdes, France is now famous because of Bernadette). By the 14th day the police had blocked off the grotto in an attempt to keep her from her mission. Bernadette had to go to the other side of the stream, climb up the terrain a bit and look down on the grotto from a distance, beyond all the obstacles, in order to see Mary in the grotto. Father Harris made the comparison to our lives, where we come to church daily or weekly to be with God and get beyond all the obstacles in our lives - work and family demands, technology, and the hustle and bustle of life - to be able to see where we are heading and create a path to it.

I'm reminded of the photo I use on this very website on my Philosophy page and share again here. I was traveling in Switzerland with my husband, Steve, and I took the photo 15 minutes after a storm delayed our hike . You can see the storm just beyond us, and even further out you can see the sun shining. You have a choice of what to focus your eye on - the storm or the beautiful sun shining in the distance.

This concept of seeing our lives from above the obstacles, or choosing whether to focus on the storm or the sunshine, is what life coaching has done for me and what I try to do for my clients. Don't let the hustle and bustle of life, along with its demands and obstacles keep you from seeing what your life purpose is. Don't let the inner obstacles of fear or doubt keep you from believing in what is possible. 

Where is your focus?
Is it on the distractions in front of you or the distant path yet traveled?
Is it on the problems or the possibilities and the outcome you want?

Take some time to envision the possible paths your life can take.
Make the time to evaluate the obstacles that are keeping you blocked.
Find a mindset or perspective that will allow you to see the possibilities instead of just the problems.
Create a plan or strategy to bust through the obstacles now, before you waste more time submitting to your fears, doubts, and trivialities of life.
Make your life mean something powerful.
And finally, connect to whatever spirituality allows you to be one with yourself without judgment or criticism. Accept who you are and be the best you can be, create the life you want to live.

I call that being "The Empowered YOU"!

Have a great day.
~Monica