"Dirt and dust - that's where it all begins.  Digging in. Digging in.

You've got to lay a strong foundation before you make it to the ground floor."

- from "The Ground Floor" by Lisa Robbin Young

I'm writing lyrics again. It's been about (more…)

[Note: This is Day 10 in the Be Your Own Guru blog series. And this is about the time when people start to feel overwhelmed, "behind" or they just feel like quitting in general. Is that you? If so, read on!]

There comes a point on every journey where you need to decide if you're going to stand up for what you say you believe, or quit.

"It's when things seem hardest that you must not quit." is the closing line of Whittier's famed poem "Don't Quit."

That's easier said than done sometimes.

Most of the time, actually.

See, there's a relief that comes in quitting... in letting something unravel so that you can walk away.

• Maybe it's a difficult relationship with your teenage child.
• Maybe it's a business that feels like it's evolving at the speed of light (and you can't keep up).
• Maybe it's a problem rooted deep in your marriage.
• Maybe your spiritual beliefs conflict with the people closest to you.

Maybe, like me, it's more than one of those things - or all of them at the same time. I've let things unravel a few times in my life. I moved across country when things were too lonely at college. I moved back home, cross country again, when things got too hard and lonely out West. Each time, I left stuff behind for other people to clean up. And don't get me started on the number of houses I've moved out of since I've been back in Michigan. I've left plenty of things behind I wasn't willing to deal with anymore. It was just to much/overwhelming/hard for me to sift through all those old things/memories, and decide what to keep. So I just let it all go.

I've even done it with a business or two. It got too hard. My heart wasn't in it. I was looking for relief.

But now, I'm standing in a space where hard is pressing in on all sides, and it's the kind of hard that tests my mettle. It's a situation (several, actually), where I've been called on the carpet and my beliefs are being put to the test. If I really believe in what I say I believe in, I must behave in a certain way, otherwise, I'm just paying lip service to what I say is my truth.

Ever been there?

This is when things get HARD!

Shoot! It's even hard to just quit - I mean you've already invested a ton of time, (more…)