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Thank You, Clarity

Summer Music Series

This post is the first of a ten-week 'Summer Music Series' that I'm creating for the summer of 2013.  If you're not already on my email list, sign up here (it's free!) so you don't miss any of these 'lil gems, aaaaand if you weren't signed up in time to get my June 27th email, simply forward your confirmation email to me after you sign up, and I'll share what the inspiration behind this special series was.  (My subscribers get inside scoops that I don't share with just anyone, so get in on the fun! :)

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Alanis Morissette is one of my favourite music artists, and it's just an added bonus that she's from Canada...it makes me extra-proud to feature one of her songs as the inspiration for this first post in my ten-week Summer Music Series.  

Her song Thank You literally sings thanks to all kinds of different experiences - both those perceived at the time as 'positive' and the 'negative' - with the realization that all of those experiences (including things like 'terror'; 'disillusionment', 'frailty', 'consequence', 'providence', 'silence') contribute to who you are and to the lessons you learn along the journey of your life.  (You can listen to/watch it here...wow, I never saw this video literally before this morning and it's bold, to say the least.  You GO, Alanis! :))

clarity - sunburst blue sky

One of the lines in the song is 'thank you clarity', and this line in particular got me to thinking about the struggle we sometimes face with indecision.  We've all been there: finding ourselves in situations where we're just not sure what to do next.  

I heard someone once say "indecision is a form of self-abuse".  

So true, isn't it?

Whether it's in a relationship, in our career, or in a decision to do with our health or our lifestyle, it's that experience of feeling a distinct lack of clarity around what our next move should be that keeps us in an unsettling, sometimes-awful state of limbo.  

But this 'sometimes-awful' state can also be perceived another way.  I remember some years ago, when I was attending services at the Unity Centre in my city, that the wise and loving Rev. Sharon Clements spoke about 'living in the question'.  This was in reference to those times of uncertainty and indecision in our lives, but rather than seeing them as a struggle, what if we welcomed them with open arms?  What if, instead, we viewed those periods in our lives as times that are ripe with possibility?

When you're faced with a decision to make, set your intention to remain open to the gift it is: an opportunity to reconnect with your heart, and listen for it's guidance about which path you're most inclined to take.  This allows you to embrace those periods of 'living in the question' as possible turning points in your life...turning points that redirect you toward your own 'North Star', as Martha Back calls it, referring to that guiding light in your inner spirit that knows exactly the situations, experiences and people you are meant to connect with, and the person you are meant to be, in order to shine your brightest.  (You can read more about the North Star concept here.)

Along with the idea of finding clarity during these times of indecision, another gem of wisdom crossed my path not once but twice this past week, and I wanted to share it with you too.  It's this idea (and utterly simple truth):

Sometimes 'not knowing'is knowing.

When you can't stop weighing a decision and you keep turning it over in your mind, trying to evaluate it and/or talk yourself into or out of something, could it be perhaps that you're letting your head override your heart - to a fault?

Don't get me wrong; I'm a definite proponent of using your head AND your heart when it comes to decision-making...but it's got to be done in partnership, and nine times (or more) out of ten - if you want to live a life that you love - your heart should get veto power.  When you're really wrestling with indecision, I find it's usually because your head has gotten way too involved, and is trying to boss your heart around with all of it's 'logical reasons' and lists of 'pros and cons'.  

Your heart knows what to do, and there's no greater long-term reward than honouring the whispers of an unhappy or unsettled heart (hint: usually your heart becomes unhappy or unsettled when you've stopped listening to it for a while, or when your head has taken over all of the decision-making in your life.)  If you listen, your heart will let you know when it's time to leave the unfulfilling relationship, the draining job, the self-depleting lifestyle.....even when it's hard to do.  

By the same token, saying 'no' to the things that drain you opens up room in your life to say 'yes' to the things that fuel you and that light you up...and there is nothing that compares to the exquisite feeling of following a happy heart.  

The more you get quiet enough to really listen to your heart, and start to heed what it has to say, the more you'll learn to trust it.

Sometimes 'not knowing'is knowing.

Thank you, clarity.

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©2023 by Kelly Wagner

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