Choosing the Easy Path

One day, during a visit, my Naturopath said to me:  “Teresa. You don’t always have to choose the hardest path.” 15 years ago, this was a revelation to me and I have never forgotten his wise words.

We all have messages we carry with us. Ones from childhood about what makes a person good, strong and worthy. Ones carried through our ancestry about how to survive.

Two huge ones for me have been that “the journey is only worthwhile if it’s hard” and “if I am afraid it means I am on the right path.” I have always correlated fear with personal growth. If I wasn’t afraid I must not have been pushing myself enough. It’s only recently that I realized that this sets me up to always look for fear.

These messages or patterns of behavior I grew up with have been useful. They have carried me to where I am today. I have achieved a tremendous amount of personal growth over my lifetime.

But, there comes a time when even the most useful beliefs or patterns of behavior have served their time and are holding us back from true authenticity.

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Image courtesy of dan at Free Digital Photos.

How many of us think that something has to be difficult for it to be worthwhile?

In reality, stepping into our full authenticity and walking our divine path is as simple as letting go of whatever is holding us back. It can really be as easy as taking our next breath. It’s only resistance that makes this feel difficult. The process is actually as natural as breathing.

Take a moment today to look at where you can choose an easier path for yourself. This is part of prioritizing your life and your body. Sometimes the easiest path is actually the most powerful and gets us where we are going efficiently and with energy to spare. Then we don’t use valuable time and energy cutting through all the underbrush. We are able to start the next leg of our journey quickly and see more terrain.

I actually can’t imagine my ancestors saying, “There are two ways to cross that river over there. I think I will cross at the deepest, widest spot instead of making use of that sand bar.” They may have chosen the easiest route, too. It may have made sense. It didn’t make them any less strong or courageous. They were actually using their intelligence.

I am not saying that tackling challenging situations isn’t useful. I’m saying don’t choose a path just because it is hard. Choose the path that actually brings you closer to who you truly are. You can feel it. Like in most things, let your heart and your body guide you. Enjoy your journey!

 

 

4 Responses

  1. Susan Purcell

    Thank you. Very wise words that have helped me. I. eed confidence of this sort.

    • sweetveg

      I’m so glad, Susan! Thank you for letting me know.

  2. The Dainty Pig

    I sooooo know what you mean!!! Your messages you have been carrying around sound very very similar to mine. Wise words – Great post!!! 🙂

    • sweetveg

      Thank you!! I love how we seem to have similar paths we walk. 🙂