In the midst of uncertainty, change and transformation, have Faith that all will unfold exactly as it is meant to.
Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
In the last 10 months, I have experienced dramatic and challenging changes on so many fronts, it boggles my mind when I think about it. From family health to a major move, to growing our family, to advancing a new business, to new schools for 7 kids. Most of these situations were either out of my control or were within my control but I had no choice but to get through it.
In June, my wife ruptured her Achilles, had surgery and was immobile for almost 2 months during the summer. I put everything on hold to care for her and our then 5 kids while she recovered. I Packed every lunch, got everyone to school then camp, tucked everyone in and made every meal. I was barely able to find time to eat or care for myself. My goals for the quarter were put on hold. Gradually she went from bed to a wheelchair, to crutches, to a boot and then became more mobile. While she was healing, I was keeping our family moving and assisting in her healing. My goals would have to wait.
While on vacation in August, we made the radical decision to start a new life in Vermont and move there permanently after living in the same area outside Philadelphia for 25 years. Since it was right as the school year was starting, my wife who is a teacher didn’t want to leave her school, her students and her best friend and co-teacher hanging, so she stayed with our 4-year-old in NJ. They went back and forth to Vermont on weekends with a 7 hour drive, which was exhausting for them. I got 3 kids started in school solo this fall. In early September, our 15 year-old son followed a dream and went to school abroad, hated it, was on the phone with us constantly miserable and came back 2 months later.
That same Thanksgiving weekend that he came back from abroad, my oldest son who just got his license 2 days before, passed out behind the wheel from low blood sugar and now cannot drive until we figure out the exact cause. Luckily, he was not hurt at all, but it was alarming and now we must ensure he is okay before he can drive again. So we have seen a lot of doctors in the last few months for my wife and son.
Three weeks later, our beloved Goddaughters were taken by social services and placed in foster care in NC, due to an unstable home environment. I rushed down there, hired an attorney and got them out of foster care and placed with my sister while we worked through the process of getting custody. In January by the grace of God, we now have 2 more daughters. So overnight on January 21st, we went from 5 to 7 kids.
With all of this going on, on Christmas Eve, we went under contract to buy a home up here in Vermont. We have been renting since the summer while we looked for a house up here. As our family has grown, our rental house feels like it has shrank significantly. So we rushed to get our house in NJ cleaned out and ready to list, which went live earlier this week.
In December and January, we launched 2 new Inspiraiton Nation workshops, Focused & Free: Break the Distraction Cycle and The Epic Daily Ritual. We also launched a new challenge course, The True Self Project: a 30 Day Habit Challenge. We even started an every Friday Inspiration Nation Community Happy Hour. With all I have had going on personally, we have been so blessed to grow our Inspiration Nation community. I absolutely love inspiring others with that which sustains me despite all that is swirling around me.
And that is the point here. At any point, with all of this going on in such a short period, I could have become overwhelmed and at times I was a little. I could have lost my cool and given up. I could have said this is all too much. I could have snapped. There were some days that I felt like I needed some peace. Like I needed to put it all on pause. But the only way out is through. As it says in the Tao Te Ching, “Stay at the center of the circle and let all things take their course.”
Over the years, my meditation practice and a consistent connection to the source of all that is has kept me serenely at the center of the circle. When you are at the center of the circle, like being in the eye of a hurricane, all can swirl around you, yet you stay firmly rooted, calm and focused.
At the center of the circle is the place where faith resides. It is where we connect with our purpose in life, it is where we connect with our true selves. You cannot stay in constant motion, caring for all things, unless you are firmly rooted at the center of the circle.
So you may be saying, “where is this center Ben?”
This center is within you.
It is where you and your higher power connect when you find stillness and presence.
It is where you close your eyes and focus on your beath.
It is your faith that you are guided by a force greater than you.
When that force guides you forward, you must take the next step.
While I had no idea what would happen if we moved to another state and started a new life, I trusted that I was being guided to that next step. Life was pulling me in a new direction. It was time for a change.
While I had no idea what would happen if I spent a ton of time writing a book, creating workshops and building the Inspiration Nation community, I was being guided to do so to inspire others with tools that had helped me.
While I had no idea what would happen if we suddenly added 12 and 15 year old daughters to our family, we were blessed by God to give them the life they deserve.
Remember what Dr. King said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
You gotta step into your future even when it is not clear. You must take action despite uncertainty. When you trust in the journey of life and your higher power, you just act. As the Bhagavad Gita instructs, take action without attachment to the fruits of action. Don’t worry about what you are going to get or if it will even work out. Just take the action that your know you are called to take. It will work out, it always does. It may not work out exactly as you expect it to, but life unfolds exactly as it is meant to. If you stay serenely at the center, you can see what direction to go.
When you have faith that you are on a path to fulfill your purpose during this life, you listen those clues that direct your where to go. When the phone rings, you pick it up. You are being called to live a glorious life and it is time to take that call.
This is not to say, that you just sit around waiting for something to happen. Waiting for a sign from God, the Universe or your higher power. Quite the opposite, it is time for you to be an active co-creator in your life.
You listen to that still small voice inside.
You see the signs pointing you in a direction.
You head in that direction.
You take massive action when you take that call.
You filter out all the other noise.
You eliminate your distractions.
You focus on getting up that mountain that has been laid before you to climb.
That mountain was laid before you and it is your summit to reach. No one else can climb it but you.
Like Dr. King said, you may not see the whole staircase or be able to see the summit through the clouds. But you know it is there. You have always known it was there. Waiting for you. Waiting for you to get unstuck and just climb. The first step has been laid before you and with faith, you take it. Your eternal destiny awaits at your summit.
