Advice from Others

I was fortunate to have attended a mastermind group "last year" (hard to believe last month = last year!:)facilitated by Leslie Flowers, who is a life success coach. When discussing all of those "voices out there" (you know the ones. The well meaning-or not, friends, relatives and neighbors that tell you what you should and shouldn't do, can and can't,etc), she says that many of them "are simply not aware". Meaning that they have a lesser level of awareness, and cannot really be "faulted" for that per se.

I have been challenged recently by others who seem compelled to tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing, what I need to do, etc. I imagine that many are in this place as the current economy has left many facing a different path that the one that they were on last year. Many have been laid off, or worse (no severance or unemployment), have had their business simply vanish. Many "well meaning" people have and will continue to ask "what are you going to do?". This is a reasonable question, but a frustrating one for the many who aren't quite sure yet! Others simply state the obvious, "You need to come up with a way to make money". That one is my favorite! I have to repeatedly fight the urge to respond "Really! Thanks for telling me! I had no idea!", especially when the statement is being made for the umpteenth time by the same person! I keep "hearing" Leslie say "they are simply unaware", but it is no less frustrating, as it just turns the pressure up. And, if there is one thing that I've discovered, it's that inspired thoughts, ideas, and creative solutions are not born inside of a pressure cooker!

Yesterday, it all came to me however. I am very visual, and this really drove home the whole "awareness" concept for me.
I was driving to my in-laws and as I turned onto a newly finished "bypass" highway, the "GPS lady" started telling me to turn around. She actually began to sound upset, or rather annoyed that I wasn't "listening". The picture on the screen showed a little car in the middle of nowhere, with no roads in site, as she "yelled at me" to find a road immediately! I couldn't help but laugh! Here I was, on a brand new perfectly paved highway, absolutely certain of where I was going, and that the highway would take me there. But she just "couldn't see it. She was simply unaware!" Therefore, she was convinced that I was going the wrong way, or was lost, or worse, not even on a road to anywhere!

Well "there you go", I thought. Isn't that where many of us are right now! We know where we need to go, and what path we need to be on. We may not know exactly how we will get there, but we know that we are going in the right direction. Yet, there are those others, like "GPS lady", who simply are unaware. Who simply cannot see what we see, or know what we know. If things aren't completely clear, keep one ear open, but don't let that voice drown out your own vision. If your path is just as visible as the highway in front of you, just do what I did...turn her off and keep going!:)