How To Face The Unknown

Think back to Monday. Or better yet, Sunday night, getting ready for bed. Now let me ask you something: Did you have the foggiest idea what was going to happen to you between then and now? Did you work? Sure. Eat? Yep, you probably did that, too. But what happened at work, or what you ate, or how it tasted, or how you felt afterward... all mysteries, until the moment they happened. That's the nature of life, isn't it? We sure like to think we're facing the unknown future, but the truth of it is, we're walking backwards, blind, into a huge unknown sea. And this is true, no matter how much you plan, strategize, or try to control the present moment. You will always be faced with situations where you have no idea what to do. Avoiding them is not an option, and preparing for them is next to impossible, simply because there are too many variables in too many situations to be able to predict. Example: I was once asked by a friend to heal a house in her subdivision. A floating house, no less; on a pier, on a river. She told me that some not-so-pleasant things had happened there years ago, and ever since, the tenants (three sets of them) had all been rude, loud, and were making the entire dock an unhappy place to be for many, many people. "But I heal people", said the voice in my head, "not houses. I've never done this before. How can I do this without even going inside the house, or meeting the people living there (both would be impossible, she told me)?" Lucky for me, these voices were inside my head, and she couldn't hear them. Because my mouth - which was connected to my heart - said Yes. To make a long story short, I went to the dock, climbed into a kayak, and paddled near the house. The whole process took about thirty minutes, and the house felt clear to me. When I saw my friend the next week, she told me how the tenants have been waving to everyone, attending dock meetings, not playing loud music anymore, and all the neighbors are happy again. How did that happen? What did I do? And most importantly, when faced with an unknown situation, what do you do? When you walk into a situation that you've never faced before - which happens everyday - your ability to be at your best, your most surrendered, and your most present, depends on three crucial factors: 1) Belief, trust, faith... in Sufism, this is called "iman", which can also translate to "certainty". Worlds apart from the concept of "blind faith", iman is about the certainty and trust that develops as you establish a daily, on-going practice of self-surrender to the Divine Will. Essentially, based on your chosen path, you commit to certain spiritual practices. Doing those practices - especially when laziness or avoidance would rather keep you away from them - builds a certain strength and connection in you that you come to rely on. When you face an unknown situation, you don't know if your knowledge will help you. You don't know if your skills will help you. But if you have iman in your heart, then you know through and through that the Divine is, in fact, waiting to help you. And that gives you confidence and reassurance, despite the circumstances. 2) Stand in What You Know. Because you do have experience, learning, education, and wisdom, that's all been gleaned from the bazillions of other times you've faced unknowns in your life. You're good at things, you have knowledge, and you are loved. The more you can say Yes to who you are, what you know, and that your contribution has value, the more likely you are to draw on those strengths as you face your next opportunity. 3) Let Yourself Be Led. Remember, you don't know what's coming next, ever. But Who does? That's right, the Creator of stuff knows what's next, because the Creator created it - right? (Such dazzling logic, I realize...) The key to success in unknown situations is about letting yourself act from the guidance you feel in your heart. The more you tune in to your heart, and feel the connection you have to the Oneness (here's where a practice like the Remembrance - calling to the Divine from your heart - is a great practice to attune your awareness to this), the more you can be led by Divine Wisdom. When I showed up at the neighborhood on the river, I didn't know what I'd do to help. But I knew that whatever was supposed to happen would happen - and that's #1. And, I knew I had talents as a healer - that's #2. So when I climbed into the kayak, it wasn't about doing what I always did, although I knew my familiarity with the worlds of energy and spirit would come in handy. It was about trusting how I was being shown to apply the guidance I received. (For those interested in the house healing, it ended up being a combination of what had happened in the house years before, and another family in the dock who were never really there (again, big sad situation), that kept the negativity stuck in place. Through praying and working with the spirits of all the people involved, along with some good ol' fashioned Jedi energy skills ;-) , all the negativity was able to be cleared in a little over twenty five minutes.) So if you want to show up as the most empowered, guided person you can be, you have to trust (that's #1), and be willing to have your strengths (that's #2) be Divinely guided (that's #3).