From "I agree" to "I do"

It is easy enough to agree with enlightened thinkers of any age, who teach timeless wisdom that seems to reverberate in your soul. But although any real, permanent change must start within each of us, to actually go from "I agree" to "I do" may be a big step indeed. Some of us - including myself - seem to need an external trigger to really start practicing what we teach.

My life is changing in so many ways
I don't know who to trust anymore.
There's a shadow running thru my days
Like a beggar going from door to door.

There is a school of thought that believes that each of us is here, in this life, to complete certain tasks, and that we are equipped with all the resources we need to succeed.

Then there's the "manifest your own reality" crowd, which say that you attract whatever you focus on, be it negative or positive energies, and that you can achieve anything you want.

Maybe the truth is somewhere in between. Maybe we are here "on a mission" but to succeed we need to focus positively on what (we think) we need to attract in order to accomplish it.

So, when the universe decides it's time to have the rug pulled from under your feet, the best approach I think, is to regard this as a gift, an opportunity for growth. Even though you may not be able to do much about the external situation you can always ask yourself how you can change yourself in order to avoid that kind of situation again and perhaps percieve the problem from a different perspective.

It can be tough though.