It is unclear and there are competing voices. What should I do?

What should you do if something in your life is unclear and there are competing voices giving differing opinions?

It’s almost as if a haze sets in and, in your confusion, you are bombarded by what feels like a sea of voices. You wonder, “What should I do?” And, “If I do this, is it the right thing?”

First of all, the vast majority of us have been there at one point or another in our lives. If you are at this point now, there is hope that you’ll get through the confusion.

If something is unclear, in my opinion it’s best to wait until it clears up.

Definitely don’t rush when you don’t feel like the move you’re about to make is 100% right.

Rushing into something might make things worse.

Competing voices means that different people have different ideas about what you should do.

Your relative might think one way; your friend another; and you a third way.

At this point, it’s important to relax and pray about it. Before you pray, you might want to relax by watching something peaceful like this wonderful camping video.

There are so many stressors in our modern lives. When you compound such with lack of clarity and competing voices it’s a recipe for potential anxiety. When this happens, you lose your centering and you fall out of balance, like a person on a balancing beam starts to waver. That’s why it’s important to fully relax.

The best thing after relaxing is to pray. The thing with prayer is that although the answer can come right away, most of the time there is a delay before getting a response. God works, but it can at times feel excruciatingly slow. You may want to say to God, “Come on! Why is it taking so long for me to figure this out?” Thoughts likes these are normal and the Almighty won’t melt like sugar if you think or say this aloud.

After praying it’s important to wait. When you’ve relaxed and prayed about your dilemma, you need to wait and see what happens next. When you’ve calmed down and stopped listening to a cacophony of voices, your inner genius, the Holy Spirit or your guardian angel—depending—will “speak” to you. You can “hear” the guidance best when you’re calm, although there are no fixed rules.

The answer you receive may be definite or indefinite, but you will get an answer. If it’s definite, then follow that. If it’s indefinite, then that means that you have choice in the matter. That’s good, but you’ll need to narrow it down by selecting what the best choice is for you—not your relative or friend. Remember, it’s your life and no one else’s.

If you don’t get an answer right away, repeat the steps listed below.

When our mind, body and spirit are in alignment holistically, then we’re flowing in a way that will reduce uncertainty and the opportunity for competing voices to come in.

When we’re in relationship with our Creator and filled with gratitude for what we have now—despite problems and uncertainty—then answers come more easily.

Relaxing, praying and patiently waiting may not be the answer you were looking for when you read this blog post’s title. However, rushing headlong into something for the sake of rushing could worsen your situation.

To sum up, the more in tune you are with yourself and God; the more peaceful and relaxed you are; and the more you can listen to your inner genius or guide, the Holy Spirit or God, the easier it will be to find clarity and the answer that is right for you.

The four steps that precede a decision when there’s lack of clarity

  1. Relax and watch a calming nature video.
  2. Pray and ask God for guidance.
  3. Wait.
  4. Repeat if needed.
  5. It could take days, months or longer but that’s okay!

Let’s Take it to the Next Level Together,

Luba

Luba Rascheff is a chaplain and certified spiritual life coach in Toronto, Ontario. Book an appointment here.

Photo by Nigel Tadyanehondo on Unsplash

I’m not busy. I’m on vacation.

Am enjoying the beauty and tranquility of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The drives through the countryside are refreshing and there’s a seemingly endless supply of wineries, vineyards and hydroponics. Fresh fruit is for sale everywhere.

Although there were some threatening, billowing, dark clouds earlier this morning, the sun is shining as I relax in my Holiday Inn Express hotel room.

I placed a sign outside my room which reads, ‘Hang on! I’m busy.’

In the old days, the sign used to say, ‘Do not disturb’ on one side and ‘Please clean room’ on the other.

Today, it reads, ‘Hang on! I’m busy’ on both sides!

The truth is that I’m not busy because I’m on vacation.

The venerable Chögyam Trungpa used to say that there is no such thing as a vacation because life is still happening. Just because you’re on vacation doesn’t mean that you have an excuse to avoid life.

We couldn’t, for example, avoid seeing the tall, lanky, dark stranger with the bizarre, twisted ‘Joker’ grin walking down the regional road with cars zipping by and wondering. And we couldn’t avoid remembering that in spite of being surrounded by natural beauty we were still in the midst of a global pestilence.

But for me to say ‘Hang on! I’m busy’ in my hotel room (on both sides no less) is erroneous. It’s part of the old thinking which equates busyness with productivity and relaxation with sloth.

To relax is not to be slothful. Relaxation is a boon for body, mind, spirit and soul.

We are entering into a new era so perhaps the sign should read, ‘I’m relaxing now. Please clean the room later.’

Let’s Take it to the Next Level together,

Luba