Photo by Sebastian Unrau on Unsplash
When you are forging a new path like starting a new business or even learning something new, there are many obstacles and hardships to overcome.
No matter how much you want to get done if it is only you with little support and lots to do progress is very slow.
Sometimes, there is no support to be had other than ourselves and we must push on step by slow and fighting step.
This is the way of forging a new path whether it be new to many or only new to ourselves.
Lessons from Mother Earth
Since Mother Earth has taught us many lessons, we could say that it is like creating a new path in a dense wood where every little branch and briar must be gone around or cut back.
Oh, but that pile of dung that you didn’t see until it was too late!
And that stinging nettle which reminded you of her presence!
And that seemingly impassible blackberry thicket!
All of these things have uses other than to impede you in your journey. You just have to get past them, remember where they are and come back later.
Dung is a fertilizer and is combustible; it is very useful for starting fires. It can also help to mask your scent from animals when you need to hunt for your survival.
Stinging Nettle is a powerful medicine, food and can also be used for cordage and fiber to make clothing.
Blackberry is most known for its juicy and tart berries but also has medicine in its leaves, stems and roots.
There is also great fear in forging a new path.
Fear of that snake, those rustling noises or those wolves howling in the distance. Fear of loneliness. Fear that you will never get through. Fear that you are wasting your time or that you are not going in the right direction.
These fears must be overcome as well.
The things that we encounter and fear while forging our own path help to temper us and make us stronger and wiser.
The Crafting of Our Future Selves
Lately, my husband and I have been watching Resurrection: Ertugrul on Netflix. It is a beautiful historical fiction series about the Ohgaz Muslim Turks who eventually form the Ottoman Empire. In a teaching moment, Ibni Arabi, the famous scholar, philosopher and mystic, tells the main character Ertugrul in one of his low moments of how the fine sword gets its character from repeated beating and shaping. He also talks about leather armor which is also beaten, cut and shaped to produce the final useful and beautiful product which does it’s job well.
Arabi said that Allah/God is the shaper of men and that all of the troubles, trials and hardships that men endure in their lives shape who they will become.
I see the creative energy which resides in all of us as the potent energy of the Great Spirit or Universe and we can apply the lesson the same way.
We are all tested by many things and we have to fight our own battles and forge our own paths. The Great Spirit/Universe/Allah/God tests us but also listens and guides us when we seek help.
All people have named this Energy-That-Moves-Through-All-Things according to their beliefs but it does not matter what we call this creative energy only that we realize that it is there.
It is in all things, including us, and it is there for us when we need it. We have only to ask for help, recognize it and then listen to the answer given.
We must also remember that our hardships and failures are our teachers and shapers. Without them we would learn nothing and go nowhere.
So the next time that you feel weighed down with the heaviness of forging your own path remember that every failure is a lesson and every pain and hardship is part of the process that will turn you into the person that you will become after you have faced these trials.
How does this apply to your own life? What hardships and failures have helped to shape you?
Please be respectful of other people when responding. Though we have different ways of expressing our spiritual beliefs look for the commonalities that we all share rather than the differences. Hate speech will be deleted.
