Conspiring for Success
The universe is organizing itself around my success. And around your success, too. Or sometimes I like to think of it as the universe conspiring for my success, as it conjures an image of a council sitting in a circle, chatting about how to make my particular world better.
When I pause and think about this powerful idea, it both calms and energizes me. My decisions, confusion, uncertainty, failures, and my passions are shared with higher forces that only want the best for me. And more than that, will help guide me to what is right for me, my work, and the people around me. It is truly comforting to think of this vast system that has my back, that wants me, calls for me to live with joy and ease and love.
As with most people, I find faith comes easily when things are going well. I am delighted to credit my successes to a co-creation between my highest self and a higher force.
However, even after years of practice, when I'm in suffering, it is much more difficult to access faith, to remember that everything can be, and is, a part of the path to understanding, discovery and joy. This is especially true with work, as security, money and value are often so intricately tied to our sense of self. It is at these times that I can find it hardest to remember that surrendering, asking for guidance, and expressing gratitude for wherever I am is the best path forward.
As I'm writing about this topic, I'm reminded of a perfect example of how this played out for me in the past. I was excited about a contract opportunity that was looking very likely, really believing I was the best person to serve the company with their needs, and also deeply believing in the mission of the organization. However, after a subsequent conversation with the owner, it sounded like it had all gone south, and I experienced 24 hours of frustration and self-doubt. Then a wise friend reminded me to have compassion for the situation and those involved; I shifted my approach and, most importantly, started to let go of the outcome. I surrendered, and asked that the contract move forward only if it was in the highest service both to me and to the organization.
I ended up having another opportunity to speak with the owner, and we agreed upon a contract. It wasn't until a few hours later that it struck me; it wasn't a just a contract, it was exactly what I had wanted when I initially was interested in this work. Not sort of close---but exactly what I had asked for. The path getting there and the timelines weren't as I excepted, but everything about the contract from the monthly fee, to who I worked with, to my exact areas of responsibility were as I had wanted. If I had only had faith from the outset, I could have avoided that period of suffering.
And what if I didn't land that contract at all? Well, I know that in the past I've pushed for something that wasn't flowing, or said yes to roles that weren't quite right, and wow, did that not work out. So my faith would have been called on to remember that those conspiring for my success knew that this wasn't the right work for me.
On this earth we have complete free will, in all its beauty and messiness. We can choose at any moment to allow our divine curriculum to unfold, or we can choose to push ahead with our own plan, even though it feels not quite right.
Perhaps paradoxically, and of much comfort, either of those choices are correct; if we choose to pause, listen and act on how we are guided, ease tends to follow. However, if we decide to hammer through and discover discourse, pain and mistakes, that is often where the juice of learning lies. And when I choose that hard path, I know that those powerful entities are still organizing themselves around my success, using the fuel I am providing to invite me to learn the lessons I need to learn. They are there to help pick me up as soon as I ask, and show me how what I learned is now a part of me, and a valuable tool for the next step on my journey.
