During my former life in the corporate world, I managed a group of about ten employees. Conflicts inevitably arose, as they will in any workplace. I felt completely unprepared and at a loss, going out of my body whenever faced with a contentious situation. I wanted to run and hide.
So I prayed for the conflict to end. Over and over again, I prayed. Imagine my frustration when the amount of conflict in my life actually increased.
I could see that prayer wasn’t helping, so I switched. I now asked to be gifted the ability to manage the conflict successfully and stay centered and in my body. I imagined receiving this wisdom as a magical download.
Once again, it didn’t work. The conflict in my life – and my reaction to it – continued. I passed mere frustration and progressed to anger. Why wasn’t Spirit helping me with this? I wanted the magic pill – to suddenly wake up one morning, go to work and successfully manage conflict.
You can probably guess what happened next.
Because of the situations I encountered, out of necessity I slowly developed tools and techniques over the next fifteen years to help me cope and stay in my body. The first time I handled a conflict to my satisfaction, I went home and celebrated.
When we pray for a new ability, we may occasionally experience a moment of grace and progress several levels in our awareness. But it doesn’t usually work that way. It’s much more likely we’ll be gifted the circumstances to learn from directly – a series of challenging opportunities through which we will learn the skill.
We can resist, but then the lesson stalks us. When we surrender, we accept the possibilities for growth and healing. The first few times we try out our developing gift, we may not be skillful. But we don’t have to be perfect because we will get as many additional opportunities to practice as we need. Through practice, we become skillful.
If we wait for the magic pill and the mystical experience, we miss out on the opportunities that Spirit brings us every day for stepping forward into our fullness.
Sooooooooo true Deb soooooooo freakin true!!!!!!!!!!
Reminds me of the many times prayers were answered in ways I hardly expected – sometimes with what appeared to be crises and disasters. A few years ago, I asked spirit for a life of energy and joy and adventure, but I was clinging to my old ways of playing it safe and settling for less than amazing. Spirit basically booted me out of my old life so that I could step into the new one I desired. It was scary and painful, but ultimately got me where I wanted to go. Now I try to make it easier for Spirit to give me what I want and need, so that the universe doesn’t have to go to such dire lengths to deliver!
Love your wisdom, Greer! 🙂