We had torrential rains here this weekend, a steady downpour which began last night and didn't let up the entire day. Yesterday morning I snuggled into my favorite chair, coffee in hand, and watched as the wind tossed my neighbors magnolia tree to and fro, sending a cascade of pink blossoms raining down onto her driveway. We've had a cascade of good fortune in my family lately, for which I'm more than grateful. In the past few years we've had times when fortune has rained less than blessings upon us, and though we survived it was not without scars. So although I won't say we "earned" the recent glad tidings, I feel as if we've paid enough dues to enjoy them without guilt.
While I've written before about my aversion to change, I recently wrote about the positive effect of initiating change rather than having it thrust upon you. When I made the decision to resign from my job, it was as if I had opened a door which allowed all sorts of new possibilities to enter in. Within weeks of making that decision, we learned about our impending grandparent-hood. Then, in another wonderful stroke of good fortune, last Friday my husband was offered full time employment at the company where he once worked, and from where he was laid off in July 2009.
Taking the first step appears key - having the courage to set things in motion with a decision, an action, a forward movement toward the direction of a dream. My son and daughter in law started it all, I think, when they moved to Texas in January. In their case, that movement toward a new way of life seemed to be the spark that set an actual new life into being. And they inspired me to start thinking about my own situation and how I needed to change it. I now feel excited about change and for the first time in years I can anticipate it with pleasure instead fear.
Robert Collier, who wrote books on positive thinking and self motivation in the late 19th century, put it this way: "Take the first step, and your mind will mobilize all its forces to your aid. But the first essential is that you begin. Once the battle is started, all that is within and without you will come to your assistance."
"All that is within and without you will come to your assistance..." It's not difficult to understand that once we make a decision and begin to move in the direction of our desire, we learn to marshal all the forces necessary to help make that desire a reality. What's fascinating to me is the way "all that is without us" seems to get caught up in the movement as well.
It's as if the universe senses the energy and wants to join the party. And I say, come on in - you're more than welcome.
How about you? Have you ever taken a first step, made one big change, and then had a series of positive changes occur as a result?