Words according to Brooke, Co-Founder and Boss Lady of Raven Vanguard
I'm a firm believer in signs; signs in the heralding sense, that is.
I’ve learned that signs are the universe’s way of stopping us dead in our tracks, giving us guidance for life’s next lesson, or a glimpse or forecast of what’s awaiting us. Through experience, I’ve learned that the more attentive we are to these signs, the closer we tend to listen, and the life-lessons seem to be a little less harsh when we take the time actually to hear and pay attention. Life has a funny way of showing and teaching us things, the more we resist, the harder the lesson, the greater the struggle.
We’ve all been there, in hindsight, things seem quite clear as to why it all happened, maybe the universe was trying to protect us, teach us, or even warn us. We’re all here to grow, and growing has its pains, and sometimes these pains genuinely frigging hurt.
But what happens when your hindsight isn’t entirely clear, and you are still confused about why something happened the way that it did? This predicament has been a recurring theme for me this week. It’s come up in multiple conversations with friends as we were chatting about life and its many challenges. Do we only achieve clarity after we truly and fully accept and move past whatever it is we were dealing with? The key word here being, truly. It seems that there is no fooling the universe, because until we work entirely through those lessons, life throws them back at us in different forms as tests until we fully grasp what it was we were supposed to learn.
When you reflect and ask yourself what’s made you, YOU; a pattern emerges – you can more clearly see the hard lessons you were dealt, but survived. However, it was the situation that caused the growing pain that has seemingly stuck with us most of all. But, isn’t that what we are trying to avoid as well? Aren’t we trying to protect ourselves from pain? But, in avoiding that pain, are we avoiding growth? Do some people not want to grow? I know I want to.
I have a vivid memory of being about sixteen years old and talking to my Grandmother about something that just happened to me (the what happened to me part I don’t remember so clearly). I can still see and hear her standing at her front door and saying, “the thing about life is it gives you the test first and the lesson second.” At first, I really didn't appreciate her insight. Although I understood what she meant in the literal sense, I didn’t understand the essence of what she had said until I had significantly more perspective-providing life experiences; those growth-inducing WTF moments where I would ask myself why is the universe forcing me to deal with this stupidity at this particular time.
In retrospect, we often say “the signs;” in reflection, we can see that the signs were all there. Were we just ignoring them? Perhaps, only temporarily sidestepping them? Or did we actually listen to them? Do all of these lessons need to be painful in order to grow?
After these tests we find ourselves seeking answers. Three times this week I’ve had friends come to me with this topic. Three times this week I “randomly” came across the exact quote that said, “Look within yourself.” A sign? I’ll take it as one and be my very own guide.