The void was vast. A space that stealthily crept in and compressed me with its weight. Heavy and bleak like the winter around me, I felt empty and lost. What should I do? My inner compass spun around furiously with no north to anchor it. My normal reference points had vanished, there was nothing but space.
As my mind raced with ways to fill the void, I heard my heart’s guidance whispering gently to stay with the space. The discomfort ran deep. I did nothing, sitting at home for days wondering what the hell it was all about. No answers came. Fear fancied filling the void; rushing in regardless of the time of day, an unwelcome visitor.
I resisted, desperately wanting to fill the void, surely something, anything, was better than this nothing. Yet life demanded nothing. Continued to create space. Inviting me to step into the void…
I’ve been up my fair share of one-way streets and blind alleys, but what I’ve come to learn is there is another, often wiser part of me I can trust. A part of me that can sometimes be a faint whisper, barely heard over the chatter of my busy mind. A sudden rush of feelings that I put down to nerves. A part of me that I often override, deeming it to be ridiculous, nonsensical, irrelevant or unimportant.
The act of slowing down and reconnecting to what our heart wants and where life is leading us is a transforming experience – if we have the courage to stop, breathe and reflect inward. Yet our minds like to rush to the answers. Preferring certainty over uncertainty, knowing over not knowing, and plans over ambiguity. This rush for the answers can leave us missing the question. We suffocate the space.
Yet the questions are the whisper of your soul. What is the big question that most wants to be answered right now, but has been pushed away by the busyness and distractions of your life? It’s longing for your attention, and as you allow yourself to slow down, and as the noise subsides, the whispers inside can be heard. It’s time now to let them surface.
There’s nothing you can get wrong here: after all, many a great discovery began with a “don’t know”. You can trust yourself. Let the question unravel. Ask yourself, “What would I most like to know right now? What needs my attention at this time?” Sit for a while and feel your breath as it connects you back to your body. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, since you breathed fully? Let yourself feel the cool air entering your body. Feel it moving through you, letting your tummy expand. Track the breath as it leaves your body, gently exhaling as if you’re blowing out a candle.
Pause isn’t about finding quick answers, but about slowing down enough so you can start asking the right questions.
The answers are usually simple. It’s the questions that are hard to hear.
