Change Can Be Messy, Especially in Texas

Dear Friend,

Things often fall apart before they come together and can look quite messy in the process… to a new and better way.

I know life looks crazy now, but consider this.

If there’s an infected wound, it must be cleaned first before it can heal properly.

There is a silver lining to our current time of changes, from a virus that quarantined the world to a damaged economy and an overworked energy grid.

Time will reveal more of what that lining looks like after a much needed, overdue cleaning.

The clarion call to respect life is finally being heard. What’s a life worth? Let’s put things in perspective.

• Respect life of those who are more susceptible to a virus or reopen an economy? Do older lives matter? I watched the Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick say, in essence, that older people should be willing to give up their lives for the sake of the young people’s future economy.
• I read about a college student who was saddened because of COVID-19. He couldn’t graduate or get a job and had to live with his parents. I thought about the movie I’d seen, 1917, when men his age were getting blown apart in WWI. Not for months, but for over four years.

The process of change and healing often is messy.

Have you ever cleaned a room, or anything, and partway through the process found it looked even messier than when you began? Stuff got moved around, some piled up to be discarded. But then a reorganization shifted the environment to something better.

Some Texans have experienced extreme hardships because of an Arctic blast that left many without power and water. Homes are left flooded. Broken pipes. Broken dreams.

However, although it’s often difficult to see while in the midst of challenges and as many are licking their wounds, somewhere, somehow, this will bring us to better days.

Priorities change. I’ve observed, for example, how many people are taking care of each other more, and there’s a greater sense of community.

If some don’t shift away from thinking about themselves first, they have an opportunity to learn some harsh lessons. This includes politicians.

Things that annoyed us before take a back seat to current needs during stressful times.

Years ago I was in a business transition, and I was worried to tears because I didn’t know what to do. My marketing pipeline of how clients came to me finished months earlier, and I felt emotionally and financially vulnerable, distraught and directionless.

Then a FEMA-level flood came to my town. I ended up with mold in my house and me for six months. This was followed by six months of sleepless nights because of caretaking my sick cat whose weight dropped from 14 1/2# to 4 1/2# in three weeks because of an untreatable thyroid condition.

I asked a teacher of mine in the first few days of what was to be a difficult, year-long journey, “Why did this happen? What was this about?” 

The reply I received was something on the lines of, “You stopped worrying about money.”

I used to have fear running in the background like a software program in a computer that’s always on.

By the end of that year, I learned to let go of fear and worry. They only add to problems and don’t help anything. Amongst other things I learned is to trust that it all works out. Now it’s part of what I coach, and it’s made me a better teacher.

Remember that all of us have things to learn personally and collectively during challenging times.

In addition to people reaching out to each other, could there be other silver linings from the effects of the Texas Arctic blast?

With deep respect for the suffering of my fellow Texans, this event may provide a turning point in the way some Americans consider how we generate energy. While the United States is about to embark on addressing our infrastructure and climate change policies, perhaps more people will be open to alternative energy sources.

What are you learning?

With gratitude,

Virginia

If you’d like help overcoming fear or worry,
so you can enjoy your life more,
contact me for a free consultation at:
virginia@soulgoals.com

I work with people who choose to share
their gifts or business in a BIGGER way
but don’t know how, feel stuck or could 
use new tools or support.

I help them ignite their Soul’s goals
and be richly compensated doing what
they love.”

www.soulgoals.com

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On a Dark, Desolate Road in Spain, This Happened to Me

The landscape looked like this, but the night sky was much darker.

After enjoying a month on the island of Ibiza in Spain, I traveled across the Mediterranean Sea to the eastern city of Valencia and then hitchhiked south along the coast to catch a boat and meet a friend in Tangiers. From there, we would travel across northern Morocco on his classic British Matchless motorcycle.

Hitchhiking in Europe was common when I was in my early twenties, and I met many people who graciously acted as if they were personal European hosts to foreigners.

Late afternoon, following a day of quick rides, a man treated me to my first experience of tapas, a Spanish appetizer, at a busy tapas bar.

After eating, I continued my journey as I put out my thumb for the next part of my journey, this time with a trucker.

Soon the sunny day turned to a gorgeous sunset, which turned to a dimly lit evening, and the vacation-spirited, coastal road turned inland. I missed the implications of that shift on the map.

During my 1 1/2 years in Europe and surrounding countries, I only ran into two potential problems while hitchhiking. The night after my transatlantic flight was the first potentially ugly episode. This was to become the second.

Although I couldn’t understand his Spanish while conversing, there was no problem in communication when he stopped at the side of the road.

I had a choice: sex or get out.

Of course, I got out. Then I saw where I was — desolate, surrounded by sand and what looked like a semi-arid desert with the outline of mountains in the distance, miles and miles away from anything or anybody.

I secretly opened my pocket knife, chipping off part of my tooth in the process.

Of course, I thought, he couldn’t possibly leave me here alone, so I went back into the truck’s cab.

Of course, he thought, this meant I agreed to have a romp with him.

Of course, I got out again. And he drove off and left me.

I was alone in the silent dark, in the middle of nothingness and nowhere, in the literal midst of no man’s land… and captivated by the still moment of exquisite Presence. Someone was watching out for me because I felt awe instead of fear.

Not too long after, I saw small lights undulating their way to me on the curvy road. In the several minutes that followed, I wondered how a speeding vehicle could see me in the dark and stop, and who was in the vehicle?

I decided to trust fate about the passengers — most people I met weren’t loonies like that trucker. Anyway, I didn’t have a lot of choices.

About how to highlight my physical existence, I remembered I had a matchbook with fewer than 20 matches in my backpack. As the lights drew closer, I lit one, single match, after another.

The driver stopped.

Much to my delight, the man spoke fluent English and was a perfect gentleman. He told me that all hotels in the port city would be booked by now. He dropped me off at a hotel in a nearby town where I could easily catch a ride the next morning in time for a boat.

Then he paid for my hotel room. No strings attached!

Actually, even though I never asked, countless people I met along the way gave me accommodations during my European trek. In addition to paying for several hotel rooms, twice I was given an apartment to myself for an entire month, once in Paris and another in Vienna, plus extended weeks at people’s homes. I believe they understood the travel adventure and wanted to help a young sojourner. All for free, asking nothing in return.

I can’t imagine how I would’ve spent the night in a port city with no vacancies and the endless time trying to figure out what to do if it weren’t for the incident with the trucker and the kind man who helped. Blessings are often in disguise.

I didn’t let fear persuade me to make a bad choice, and it worked out for the best.

Bullies, no matter what their position, don’t have to win unless we let them.

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“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Martin Luther King Jr.

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Perhaps there’s a seemingly impossible situation where you feel stuck and don’t know what to do. Maybe it appears to be someone else’s fault.

Somehow you got yourself into it, and somehow you can get yourself out.

There’s always a way out. Trust yourself and listen to the voice within for guidance.

My mother frequently said, “Where there’s a will there’s a way.”

As you’re finding your way, look for the silver lining, too. It’s there. 

P.S. Know someone who might enjoy this post? Please share.

Ready to find the clarity
and courage to live your dreams?
Contact me for a complimentary
Do What You Love Break Free Session.

Email me at:

virginia@soulgoals.com

I work with people, at any age,
who choose to share their gifts
or business in a BIGGER way
but don’t know how, feel stuck
or would benefit from new tools
or support.

I help them be richly compensated
doing what they love by aligning
with their Soul’s goals.