THE UNEXPECTED ROAD

The days of everything working out according to our plans appear to be over.

 

The times we are living in are defined by what my friends in the sustainability world would describe as VUCA.

 

Volatile

Uncertain

Chaotic and

Ambiguous

 

Just when we think we might be able to see a clear way ahead, it feels as if the Universe then comes and drop kicks that ‘plan’ into oblivion and we are left once again in the void of not knowing.

So how comfortable are you ‘not knowing’ where you will go, what will happen and who you will be?

 

Are you able to rest in a swirl of if’s, maybes, and potentials without losing your mind?

 

Well, I will be the first to admit that despite years of jumping off cliffs into the unknown, I have been finding these last few years challenging.

 

The volatility of the outer world has shown me where despite what I might have thought, my inner world constantly craves peace, order, and control.

 

And when I don’t have it, I feel shaky at best.

Panicky at worst.

 

So, like many of you, I have had to learn new coping mechanisms that build my inner resilience.

 

Instead of pretending that I ‘don’t care’ what happens in the world around me, I have stepped into radical caring.

 

I have admitted to myself and others that I care a great deal about those around me, the communities I visit and the Earth and her ecosystems.

 

I care deeply.

 

And it’s the care and love I feel inside that has shown me a new road through the world.

 

Sister to the ‘road less trodden’, the unexpected road is the one that pops up around the metaphysical corner when you least expect it.

 

It is the road that forks off, down a hill, through a nettle patch and into a mysterious wood that you had never seen before.

 

The unexpected road finds us when we are ready to embrace not knowing.

When we are ready to be consciously lost.

Ready to adventure into a world that is not yet created.

 

Because we are the ones that will bring it alive through walking the unexpected path.

Through finding our courage in the darkest of moments.

And through loving everything that happens with a heart cracked wide open to life.

 

The unexpected path shows us that we are safe no matter where we are and who we are with.

 

It reminds us of our universal, soul self and binds our human self to its magnificence.

 

It is the flickering candle flame of the haven in the blizzard.

The insight gained from the mistake.

The miracle born from the madness.

 

The unexpected road is the only one left for us to take.

Because everything ‘expected’ is dying.

 

It must.

So that a new world can be born.

 

So, can we all trust that a new road is being presented to us?

It beckons us forwards into the unknown so that we can innovate and restory.

 

Can we find the faith to step out on to it, without any of the trappings of our past?

To walk naked into the forest of a new world.

 

I can.

I will.

I AM.

 

Will you come with me?