It’s the middle of February, and, here in Georgia, I find myself regularly gazing out my window searching for signs of an early spring. Days like today give me hope. The sky is a clear blue and the air feels like the promise of something soon to come. I won’t even lament that we’re almost two months into the year. Both The Greatest Kid On The Planet and I celebrated our birthday in January, and that means it was a month of family, friends, and festivities.
Over the past weeks, I’ve been conversing with a great guy named Geoff. Geoff lives in the Northeast, in one of those wintery, cold weather places. When I first heard from Geoff, he told me he’d read my post from last summer about opening new doors. To me, last summer seems like forever ago for all that has transpired since. But I do remember writing those words and where I was when I wrote them. The Greatest Kid and I were at the beginning of a new adventure.
Geoff told me he’s read that post over and over, and he keeps coming back to something I said. Last summer, I wrote that I believe we’re supposed to keep moving, and that, sometimes, the place we thought we would stay is really just another step toward where we’re supposed to go. I also said I’ve come to believe the Universe knows better than I do where I’m supposed to be.
Geoff, like me, believes the Universe brings you guidance when you ask for it. I was intrigued and inspired hearing about his faith and conviction that answers always come when he needs them, and they always lead him in the right direction. This, Geoff said, is why he has believed for a long time that he would find a way out of his current circumstance to a place of peace and happiness.
Geoff, like so many of us at times, has found himself in a place he’s struggling to navigate. It would seem everything in his life is out of order, and, even though he’s been asking for guidance, the answers haven’t come.
“I always tell myself to be patient and wait for it, but I’ve been waiting a really long time.”
For Geoff, the previous years have brought a myriad of changes, a new job, a new house, and new responsibilities. They all seemed like logical choices, and, at times, it was what was expected of him. But with each one, he felt he was moving further away from where he really wanted to be. And now, Geoff says, he feels stuck. The years have gone by and left him feeling discontented, and, sometimes, downright unhappy.
I think many of us find ourselves in that same place. We make what seems like the reasonable choice, and we ignore the feeling in our gut telling us it’s not the right one. Some of us spend years, even a good part of our lives, trying to ignore that feeling of discontent. We wind up going through our days feeling unhappy, and we begin to wonder why God hasn’t answered our prayers, or why the Universe won’t send us a sign, or why good thoughts don’t bring good things like people tell us to believe.
For Geoff, the years passed by and brought him more questions than answers. The only thing he was sure of was that he was moving in the wrong direction.
“I know what I want and this isn’t it, but I don’t know what to do to change it. And I don’t know what the Universe is trying to tell me. What am I missing?”
That is a question I’ve asked myself many times. But I wonder if, sometimes, we don’t see what’s in front of us because we’re waiting for what we think the answer should be.
What if the answer has been with us all along?