Life is full of them, so the question is:
How do you handle life’s speed bumps?
Do you:
- Hide out while you cry, rage, feel ashamed, etc.
- Pretend like nothing happened: if no one else notices it might go away.
- Talk about it to anyone who will listen.
- Call in your Merry Band.
I’m advocating for 4. It’s a marriage made in heaven: Speed Bumps and your Merry Band!
This week I hit a large speed bump in my progression toward publishing my book The Curse of the Neverland. I take full responsibility for it, it was completely my own doing. But I hit it head-on while going at a good clip, so needless to say, both the project and I went flying and landed in the ditch. It’s waiting while I decide where to have it towed, and how to get back on the road. ;>)
It was positively providential that I was already scheduled, the day after hitting my speed bump, to spend 2 ½ days with a circle of women friends I’ve known for over twenty years at a lakeside cottage in Millersylvaia State Park. (Highly recommend it!) I confess, of the above multiple choice options for handling life’s speed bumps, my usual fallback would be 1: Hide out, or possibly 2: Pretend it didn’t happen. Instead, I was dropped into the midst my Merry Band.
This particular circle of friends and I are pretty centrally focused on our emotional and spiritual growth. We played “Go Goddess,” “Goddess Guide Me,” did Tarot, used “Oh” cards, and had our usual rounds of deep sharing. All those games are just fun tools that invite us to focus within. We’ve learned over the years that the faster we focus on ourselves and take responsibility for what’s going on in our lives, the sooner it ameliorates. (Fancy word for “gets better.”)
I didn’t receive any clear message about how to proceed, but I did feel seen, accepted, and unconditionally loved. (That’s a FINE thing!) We canoed in the moonlight, and walked among old-growth trees. I love big trees. And these ancients seemed to be telling me to hold still, to just be, to listen, to sway with the wind as it rises. This too shall pass.
I did have the good sense to post on my business mastermind Facebook group to let them know what was happening for me. This is another magical part of my Merry Band. You cannot imagine the resource this sparkling group has been for me, at so many levels! I got feedback, ideas, suggestions, and information about their own experiences. This gave me valuable different perspectives.
Once I got home I began to do my own research, adding to the pool of useful information.
But my Human Design is such that my decision-making authority is emotional. I have to feel my feelings, and find the spot of stillness – often in the eye of the storm—before I know how to proceed. I may get right back on the same road. I may choose a different one. I may well discover the speed bump is simply Resistance showing up big-time. But I know I must feel right with my decision. So I’m waiting, knowing that with the help of my Merry Band, the speed bump will be perfectly handled.
Coach’s Challenge: What speed bump are you facing? I challenge you to share it with your Merry Band – your inner circle, your trusted friends and advisors. Mind, just because you’ve known someone forever doesn’t automatically make them part of your Merry Band! You get to choose this band. Choose well. They’ve got your back, you’ve got theirs. It needs to be a relationship founded on deep trust.
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