Yesterday, the last yoga class for the year, my instructor read a fantastic quote from Tao Te Ching:
The cloud does not insist upon its form,
The wave does not force its way over the ocean,
So why should you clutch so tightly
Your little map?Follow your heart
And know joy in all things.The path of freedom
Has no markers,
Yet it leads to fulfillment ;The path of confusion
Is crowded with signs,
Pointing in all directions.The Great Way is a humble, solitary path
Leading Home:
Follow it closely and be guided.How do you know you are on the Way?
When your map no longer serves you.
You know where you want to go and you know how to get there.
It resonated in me. I’ve been pretty busy lately tossing out my maps and it feels great.
We all know how to do what we need to do to become what we are already destined to be. It’s just that it can be hard, feel insurmountable… fear and insecurity get in the way.
I’ve been going with my gut now on just about everything.
Except when buying shoes. Gotta go with the heart on shoes…
Thank you.
Grass Oil by Molly Field 
Beautiful words, summarizing pretty well my 2012 journey 🙂 dropped the maps and listened to my Inner Voice compass! Exciting journey to you Molly!!
thanks, Sandra! i’m so blessed to have like-minded spirits around me. i love my first-tree family, but some of the branches are very stiff. 🙂 i prefer the tree i’m growing now. and exciting for you too! we are lucky. xo
When your map no longer serves you… EXACTLY! The map has not served me anymore I’m totally afraid but trying to muster up as much courage I have to continue on. I know I have what I need to carry on but I don’t know how to focus it yet into what I need it to do. So maybe that’s why I needed the map? I’m screwed aren’t I? LOL
i know what you mean. we can do this. just do what you need to do; the rest will reveal itself to you. i woke one night in the middle of my sleep to the following phrase, as CLEAR as a BELL: “Do not stray from your initial motivation and the essence of what you excel at doing the thing that you do DO. Keep the flow to a trickle until you are certain the world is ready for what you have to offer. You will know when it is time.” so… this is what we must do. i will never forget it. the only other time i had an interaction like that was when i was super stressed and we were trying to sell our house to shorten my husband’s commute to his job. i awoke to a calm but firm voice (like the one i heard earlier this year): “All will be well.” and i took the house off the market… 6 months later, my husband was laid off, and we were able to keep our literal and metaphorical house in order.
Jasmine: it’s all there for us. calm yourself, listen to your gut. You already know what you need to do. patience is key.
I’m trying and with good friends like you I’ll get there too!!
you too, sweets! 🙂
Eh, I had a map once. I showed the path I thought I was on. I threw it away.
good. let someone else use it. 🙂
I think for people like Jasmine and me it’s chaotic. We want to do it ALL well and all at the same time. Then we run in circles a bit. Then we want the map back. I think too, when you grow up hearing that message that what you like, what you think, what you want is all stupid, ridiculous, impossible (fill in the blank) you have to go through a process of unlearning all of that. Trusting your inner voice is difficult until you go through that process and gain confidence. I think about the conversations I am having with people right now where I ask them what they would do if they were me. I go round and round trying to find the right way to do things because I am uncertain of my own “guts” and feel the need to check in with every other person on the planet before I make a decision. I do not like this about myself, but still, I keep doing it. Collecting opinions doesn’t really help much, all it does is make you seem self-absorbed and make you more confused.
It’s a process, but we are making progress.
yes! lots to think about in what you’ve said. i used to poll people and then i sort of got sick of the answers! HA! isn’t that odd? i just wanted validation. i just wanted to be seen thinking about my future, my goals, but that became its own thing. so i had to toss it. you are making progress, LC. you are. the gut thing is HUGE and not as hard as it seems. it just requires we go with it; that first twinge that says, “YES!” is right as well as the one that says, “think about it…” i have decided that when i am *bored* with thinking about something, i’m ready to move on it. like lots i’ve done the past 3 months: just DO it… i have nothing to lose. that’s what it became. the go for it moment.
I have given up maps and the roads they say I am supposed to be on. I follow/make my own path and I have never been happier. Thank you so much for sharing this, Molly ❤
yeah – maps suck. 🙂 i’m glad you found your own way. it’s the best way. i like to have stops for chocolate on my routes. 😉 ❤