Any road will get you there...really?

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there."   

Lewis Carroll, Novelist most notably for Alice in Wonderland

As a small business owner, I have had some unusually trying times over the past year that put many of my beliefs / principles to the test. I am not a traditionally religious person, however I have a very strong faith. It's no wonder that during this new phase in my life, I started looking at my thoughts and what I could learn from these obstacles. Here are a few examples of my core principles...none should be a surprise!

• What goes around comes around
• Ask and you shall receive
• God doesn't give you any more than you can handle
• God doesn't close a door without opening a window

...and that is just a few. During this intense time of self-evaluation, I found some things that seemed a little odd. What do you do with principles that conflict? I mean... pretty clearly conflict. Here are a couple of examples...

1. ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE vs. RELEASE DESIRES, YOU HAVE ALL YOU NEED
2. WORK ON YOUR OWN SALVATION. DO NOT DEPEND ON OTHERS vs. LEAN ON ME  / YOU ARE NOT ALONE
3. WHAT COMES AROUND GOES AROUND (especially when people do us wrong!) vs. WHAT WE DISLIKE IN OTHERS WE BELIEVE IN OUR-SELF 
4. FREE YOURSELF FROM ATTACHMENT vs. YOU MANIFEST WHAT YOU THINK

Am I not the only 21st century chick who gets confused? One day I just woke up to a blank Vision Board because focusing on what I wanted seemed too materialistic, too specific and not surrendering to God. You get what I'm saying, right? Are we supposed to repeat affirmations everyday or go with the flow and live in the present? It's a gift right... that's why they call it the present (barf)!

Unfortunately, this led to a time of really questioning whether even our modern processes of beliefs and self evaluation was something thought up in a board room filled with the scent of patchouli and executives in suits figuring out how to sell us more books and DVD's. If Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, then why has "Think and Grow Rich" sold 30 million copies and kept its relevance over the past 70 years? HELP! 

I don't have an answer and I guess I am just reaching out to the electronic abyss for insight. I feel like a dog chasing it's tail sometime, waiting for the next bit of inspiration. I've slowed down on purchasing books, now I surf the web for free information and traded in my Law of Attraction reading time for meditation. As Oprah says (yes, I'm a fan, but she's another source of my confusion), what I KNOW for SURE is that I believe in forgiveness, surrender, the love of friends and family and that we are here to learn lessons. I guess that will have to do for now.

In closing, the best thing I heard this week came from a friend who was talking to my two young boys. She said "Do you know why we have 2 ears and only 1 mouth?" ... flash to a 4 and 2 year old looking confused... she said "So we can do more listening than talking". I think that is wise advice, now I'll quiet down and ask my angels for a sign!! :)

Love and Light,

Marcey

owner, jon ric express