Finding Your Golden Path

Have you ever felt stuck or stalled and found people helping you advance toward greater fulfillment?

I was at a crossroad in my life. I had just left my job as an Emmy-winning TV producer at PBS. So much of my identity was tied up in my job, without it I wondered, “Who am I?” Maybe I never really knew.

So I hit the American road with my camera and my dog in search of solutions. People, and some animals, provided the answers – as they can for all of us.

Maybe because I was searching in my own life, people openly shared their stories with me. I found that, as I distilled the stories of the people and animals that I met on this journey, I also would discover more about myself. I also found that many encounters in our lives are brief but they offer clues to those missing pieces, gifts for our lives—if we stay open to them.

It doesn’t matter where you “travel:” you can just step outside into your neighborhood. And I hope that, as you do, you, too, find – as I did: Presence with others can provide clues to your true path. And, along the way, you may find your treasure in the least expected place.

3 suggestions to spark, or sustain, this path to presence:

1. Accept or act. Consider a situation in your life you think you would like to improve. It could be in your career/mission, health, or relationships. Do you really want to improve it? You have two choices: accept it as it is – embracing a kind of peace because you know you will take no further action, just true acceptance. Or the second choice: to act. Choose, and then return to presence.

2. Could you “take the world in a love embrace”? Would you even want to? Why? The Steppenwolf song said:

“Get your motor runnin’
Head out on the highway
Lookin’ for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yeah Darlin’ go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace.”

Doesn’t that idea excite you, even a little?

Why do it? People can provide portals to putting the pieces of your life together in ways you may never have dreamed – if you just stay open and present with them.

Eckhart Tolle recently gave a talk on “Deepening Presence.” He suggested: are you experiencing “synchronicities” or “chance encounters”? This is a good sign that are you connected with this deeper presence.

3. Keep practicing, no matter how experienced or inexperienced you feel in mastering presence. There always is that next road you can travel. You’ll have choices along the way: Should I stop or keep going; keep practicing presence or not? No matter how challenged or charged your life situation currently feels, what lies ahead on this path to presence could be magical. Remember that when you’re at a crossroads. It sure has made all the difference for me.

Jillian Robinson is on a mission! To have personal development taught as commonly as math and science. Mindfulness/Presence is being taught in some schools today. It’s a beginning! Imagine if kids were taught personal development topics all the time. How different would our lives be – personally, within families, communities, our world? If there’s anything Jillian can do with your organization or if you or your organization can aid in this mission, please email Jillian@JillianRobinson.com. Jillian advances this mission through media production, speaking and certified high performance coaching. Thank you for being part of this mission.