fbpx

What’s in the way is the way!

What’s in the way is the way! When I first heard these powerful words, their truth touched me to my core. Everything I had been exploring blossomed when I brought this truth into my life. I loved it so much that it became the title of my latest book and I sometimes joke with people that they don’t really need to read it. They just need to tuck this exquisite statement into their heart and let it be their daily guide.

So, say these powerful words several times. If you are in a public place, say them quietly inside of you. Let them begin to work their magic. The more time you spend with this wise statement, you will begin to recognize that it is asking you to have moments where you stop fighting, grasping and resisting life and instead show up for it. For whatever life is offering in this moment is exactly what needs to be here.

Your mind may be saying, “Well, that’s all wonderful when it’s a sunny day and everybody I love is okay and I’ve lost all the extra weight and I’ve won the lottery. But what about a difficult diagnosis, or deep rejection, or the loss of a loved one, or a broken leg right before the marathon you spent a year training for?” What’s in the way is the way encourages us to know again the ease and spaciousness that we truly are, that we are ready to discover how to show up for life – all of it.

To discover how to be with life in this way, you begin to see that the challenges of your life are not here because you have done something wrong, or they are karmic retribution, or God has fallen asleep on the job. They are here because they are for you – they are endeavoring to show you something that you are ready to see.

What we’re only beginning to see, is that embedded in the challenges of life are treasures of insight and heart that you have waited for your whole life. If you doubt that read the biographies of people who have truly made a difference. In every single one of their lives, they have experienced big challenges. And those challenges caused them to grow into the wise and insightful person who has made such a big difference in life.

As you discover how to bring your attention out of the world of struggle and into whatever is right now,  even the difficult, you realize that every single moment of your life, life is speaking to you, giving you the keys to unlock the world of struggle, which you, along with most people, live in most of the time.   What’s in the way is the way reminds you to move beyond being a victim to your life and instead listen to it!

This is all encapsulated in a favorite quote of mine from the insightful teacher Byron Katie:

“Life is simple. Everything happens for you, not to you. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late. You don’t have to like it… it’s just easier if you do.”

This is not how our minds operate. They are dualistic in nature and they like and dislike, endlessly trying to get to the so-called good stuff and leave the bad stuff behind. That is what I call the bubble of struggle that is floating on the ocean of being. You are not all the struggles in your head. They are just something that has been conditioned inside of you. Who you really are is that which can see the struggles and bring them home to your heart. And the more this happens inside of you, your bubble of struggle dissolves and you rest more and more in the ocean of being that you truly are.

Now, Katie’s last sentence – “you don’t have to like it. It’s just easier if you do” – doesn’t resonate with me. I don’t think I have to like it! Life is really, really hard sometimes and it has been my experience that my mind never really likes the difficult parts of life. So what I love to say is, “You don’t have to trust it. It’s just easier if you do.” Life is not always likable, but it is trustable! It is for you. That’s what the statement what’s in your way is the way is pointing you to.

If this calls to you, we will be exploring these truths and how to bring them into your daily life in my online course called What’s in Your Way is the Way, which is starting on April 8th and is currently $200 off, available at its lowest price of $297 thru February 20th. Every week you receive written lessons along with audio and video files, so you can enter the course in whatever way that works for you. Maybe you are a reader, or maybe you are a listener, or maybe it helps to see these truths spoken. You will also receive invitations every week that show you how to bring these truths into your life. The wonderful thing about this work is you don’t have to do these. That is why they are called invitations. The whole course lives the truth that it is okay to be a part of the course in whatever way works for you. Also, if it calls to you, we gather on Zoom, an online meeting room, every other week to explore and share together.

If the course doesn’t work for you and you have my book What’s in the Way IS the Way, the invitation is to open it every day to a random page and read until something calls to you. It may be a sentence, a paragraph or a number of pages. And if none of this calls to you, know that I know you are right where you need to be and life is giving you exactly what you require in order to unhook from the bubble of struggle and come back to the spacious being that you truly are.

  1. Thank you Mary for writing an honest explanation of how that saying works to help us all in life. I truly respect you acknowledging that many of us go straight to the “yeah,but” response because we see and feel that life can be so difficult. But by addressing our resistance , you emphasize that acceptance is for both easier and difficult moments, so it makes the practice even more meaningful. It’s still not easy to fully grasp the idea that something terrible is here for a purposeful reason, but it certainly makes sense when put in a broader perspective of life happening as it will. Life is. And no matter what, what is in the way is the way. Thanks again.

  2. This is amazing. What Ihear is Paul saying, “I have learned to be content in all things.” The key word to me is “in” not with. In speaks of acceptance and with acceptance brings peace.

  3. Timely post. I just finished reading your book on ‘Compulsions’. We did it with a book club and had some wonderful, challenging conversations. Also, a friend and I will lead a 5 week book study on ‘What’s in the Way IS the Way’ in May – June 2020. I am certain we will have more valuable chats about trust and that we are all where we need to be. Thanks for ‘writing it down’.

    1. How wonderful! It’s great to share the process with other people. Thanks for commenting.