Baby, it's cold outside!

How ya doin'? Got your vision set on your path? Targets for ways to bring you in alignment with it (aka New Year's resolutions)? Space clear, personal energy flowing smoothly?

Have I mentioned it's cold outside? Yes, it's January, but this is Florida and I really don't like cold weather (although at least this year we're just getting it a couple of days at a time, so it's more tolerable). The dislike of cold weather is one reason I live here. Which brings us to today's notes (you knew this was going somewhere, right?):

What do you do to maintain focus when things aren't going as planned or hoped? To stay "positive"?

First, I think positive thinking is overrated. Not in the sense that your thoughts don't matter. They're energy, just like everything else in and around you, so of course they matter. It's just that they aren't the be all and end all of what's going on. It's the action you take in accordance with your thoughts. Negative thoughts often result in doing nothing to change the situation. We feel lost and hopeless and it's all we can do to get through what has to be gotten through. But positive thinking also can be dangerous when it results in doing nothing. (There are some finer points to this we'll talk about eventually. For now, just go with the principle that thinking positively is great, but you should still read the want ads....)

Back to topic, though. So you're thinking positively, you're doing the work, and nothing is moving. Or is moving in a different direction. You have some options here for your perspective and choices. One, you can act as if there is divine purpose directing your path in a way you hadn't anticipated. Trust that things are working exactly as they need for your best growth and outcome. Let go and let god, as the saying goes. This is easiest to do/envision if you're actively maintaining and recognizing your divine connection. Meditate!

Two, you can act as if you made a bad choice. Examine what you're going for, what's happening, and consider whether what was a good idea at the time really isn't the right path. Maybe your burning desire to serve has you thinking in medical terms, and yet you can't find a training program you like, everything you see says the job market sucks (that should not be your determining factor, ever, though), etc. Maybe what's going on is you have a romanticized picture of medical practice and how it serves, and you're trying to fulfill someone else's dream; meanwhile, your subconscious is screaming "no."

Three, you can act as if this is exactly the right choice, and your old self or what Seth Godin refers to as the "lizard" (a projection of the reptilian brain that is concerned with survival and not much else), or what the shamans would refer to as serpent self--again, concerned with physical survival...yes, we're talking about your comfort zone trying to control what's going on. You are moving onto your path, and you are trying to sabotage your own efforts so you don't have to work so hard.

Four, you can act as if it's just coincidence, something in the stars, or some external crap going on that you can just ignore and work with, through, or in spite of.

Cold outside? Bundle up and keep walking.