Are you conscious of what is driving you to step up and be the best person you can be? To finish that project?  To cross the finishing line? To step out of your comfort zone?  What will make it worth it?

Viktor Emil Frankl, M.D., Ph.D. (26 March 1905 – 2 September 1997) was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor. He is know to have said that: "He who has a WHY can bear any HOW" (http://andreaskluth.org/2009/09/15/frankl-he-who-has-a-why-can-bear-any-how/)

Knowing your values- what you value that will help you stay in alignment and in your truth - is a first step to discovering your WHY in life. The First Way of the 8 Ways is about walking strongly in your truth (Ahu Ahu) - but that is only really possible when you know what that truth is - the 8th Way (Kuke Ana Wai) reminds you to connect with your WHY - to know what makes any pain and suffering worth the journey.

Discovering the WHY in life can take time, and you may find it changes over time. Often you will discover your WHY through great suffering, even life threatening conditions. Victor Frankl says you can make up your mind to "act freely as a responsible being....in spite of the suffering" and that 'despair' is when we suffer without meaning - when we can't find meaning in our experience (the link to the video where he talks about this is below).  

I remember thinking , in 2001 when I travelled to Paris, that I had to create some new "WHYS" for the next stage of my life. My youngest son had just come through a major operation that promised to assist him to live and was showing all the signs that that would happen, after years of doubt around that possibility. Keeping my son well and my family safe had driven me to do all I could possibly do during that time. And when things became easier in time, I took some time out for myself to celebrate by finally travelling to Europe, a long-time dream of mine. 

I was walking back on a busy Paris street back to the hotel late one evening with some friends and it suddenly hit me that all my dreams had come true. I frightened my friends somewhat by suddenly calling out a huge "Thank you" to the Universe for fulfilling the last of my dreams - to visit Paris. I can still remembering the feeling of my heart filling up so much I thought it would burst. Almost, in that same moment, a fleeting thought crossed my mind.  
"Where to from here?"  

For some time, I couldn't think of any new dreams - anything else to fully motivate me to be the best person I could be and to keep a brave and trusting heart despite the many hicups in life. There were many times when I couldn't find 'meaning' for my suffering, for the trauma and loss in my life. While I was still taking responsibility and caring for my family and building my business, there was room for more understanding of 'WHY' my soul had chosen such a difficult pathway.

Soon after my return form Paris, I began 'dreaming' in the next stage of my life. I took time to create a Vision Board - long before Vision Boards became fashionable, and soon my new "WHY"S" began to emerge. When I looked back and could see what I had learned from my past experiences, I could see how they were now giving me the strength to dare to dream the Big Dreams I had on my board.

Recently my life took a radical new direction as I left all that I was familiar with and moved interstate. Just over a week ago, after arriving in Sydney to live, work and play, I knew it was time to fully 'dream' in my purpose for being here - to find my drivers - the 'WHYS' that will assist me to manage the unknown - to break through the fear - to have the courage to follow the signs that I knew would come, the moment I took the time to settle and listen.

One sign, one opportunity, and one person after the other has come to assist me each day. I still hold Grand Dreams yet to be filled in my heart, and I know and trust that my being in Sydney is step for these to unfold. The pathway to those great dreams is becoming clearer.

Beneath all of my dreaming - conscious and unconscious - is an underlying WHY that has been clear to me for some time. It is simple really - I do what I do because my Soul, guided by the Eagle, calls me to be the best person I can be - to fully and freely use the gifts given to me by our Creator, to  use these gifts to serve and lead, to honour and respect the land and creatures of our beautiful planet. And I do all of this because if feels good - it feels true and fills my heart.

So - what is your WHY- or what are your WHYs?

I would love to hear what you think and feel about this.

Love to all

Heather  
http://www.shamanicpathandpractice.com/the-8-ways.html

Welcome to my blog space. It is wonderful to meet with you here.

These past few months have been ones of great change for me – change that has taken me away from the pages here. Change comes to us all every day – and with it - the opportunity to move into other spaces, to alter the spaces we are in, to create new and more vibrant spaces. 


Change can happen in an instant or it can be a gradual process. It can happen to you directly and alter your world, or you can see it happening around you to the ones you love without being able to do a thing about it.

Recently one of my sons lost his job – along with hundreds of others – when the company he worked for ‘went broke’ (his words). He was the head of his department and carried a lot of responsibility.  He also has a mortgage and a family to take care of, and it was a great relief and fortunate for him when his phone rang hot all day with offers from other companies for him to work with them. I was watching from the sidelines, and I knew that my thoughts could impact on his situation, and mine, for he is a part of my world. There is no way of me knowing for certain how worrying about the outcome could have affected it however, because I chose instead to detach from my fears, to watch and contain them, and to trust 100% in my son and his journey.  I watched him go through the process of change and manage his fear well. 

My son looked at all the job offers, for which he was very grateful for, and I knew he felt overwhelmed and concerned he may not choose the right one. A few days down the track he was able to call me and we talked about the world and the direction it was moving into – where the security for the future might lie. I kept reassuring him that the right job was there for him, pointing out to him that at some level he had called it in. In my world, there are no mistakes – everything is planned at a higher level, however, we definitely influence those plans through our response to every single experience. In every moment we have the capacity to create light energy or dark energy – to expend or expand energy through our response to a situation. The temptation to get caught up in the trauma and darkness and to become a victim to one’s circumstance is always tempting – however, it only leaves us empty, in a place of fear.  Instead, we can choose another way.  A way where we acknowledge our loss, our fear, our sadness, but we are not consumed by it.

Recently a friend of mine died in a tragic, freak accident.  This man was well known, greatly admired, and most of all - loved, and as I stood amongst hundreds of his friends and his family at his memorial service, some of whom were also my life-long friends, there was the temptation for us all to be consumed by such a great loss. However, his brother reminded us that his death had brought us together, and we could do better than to give in to the grief and sadness that was tempting us. Instead we chose to celebrate this wonderful man’s life together. There were many tears shared however, tears of sadness and joy, and my heart opened as I watched the men in the room weep with the women. This man will be missed, but his life has been full and not a moment of it wasted. We were all there to support his family in their loss, their fear, their sadness, and to assist them not be consumed by it, and they were also there to teach us how walk strongly at such times.

There has never been a time of such great and swift change as there is right now. Technology enables us to witness and be part of change all round the world like never before. The on-line web is a medium for us to connect with each other from all parts of the planet. The pace of life for many seems furious at times, and at times it seems we are forever on the move. There are others who live in routine and certainty and they watch the change happen around them. As the changes happen around and to you, remember that you have the opportunity to create light or dark energy with your thoughts, feelings, words, intentions, actions, and reactions. Ku Ala, the fifth of the Eight Ways that I teach, reminds you to Be Present with yourself, with time, and with the spaces around you – your surroundings and environment, to be a great watcher and observer of yourself and your life. Remember, you have the capacity to create internal change at every moment in your response to the external changes that surround you. You only have two choices in your response – one will expend energy – the other will expand it, and at times it is worth expending energy in order to expand it.