What do I mean by the Difficult Path?
Is this about understanding there are no free lunches?
Or is this about a path which is so challenging that there is no hope to even try?
Which is it?
I know that I have tended at times to bounce between both extremes.
On one hand, the want is the easy way: please, just tell me what to do!
On the other hand, I can excel in making everything so hard that I feel I never get anywhere.
A vicious circle.
Fortunately an alternative point of view is available.
The Difficult Path is the path where you are willing to find the middle ground, the point where there is no resistance to moving forward but you also do not find yourself sliding off into the other side of the easy-peasy fix of instant gratification.
I call it the Difficult Path because at first glance you don’t immediately know the answer.
You will need to find within yourself the necessary motion to move beyond “I don’t know” into a process of reflection and consideration where you allow your knowing to make its way into your awareness.
This is difficult because you will find other flows — like your ego — which will push you to take the easy way.
This path is difficult because, instead of being distracted by these contrary flows, you are going to need some time to allow the answer to come to you.
The Difficult Path requires that you show up in your own life and take a hard look at yourself.
You look where you can.
You ask: Am I perpetuating self-deception at some level?
The Difficult Path also requires that you commit yourself to noticing where you push yourself beyond your truth into punishment for not being perfect.
It takes time to learn to trust yourself to realize the difference between too much and too little.
The hard part is that as you move along your path, this middle road shifts and will not be in the same position even from day to day.
The Difficult Path lets go of the demand for NOW and focuses instead on the feeling of truth in this moment.
The push of NOW can override your sense of truth.
Noticing where you push yourself will help you realize when NOW becomes the domineering captain of your ship.
The Difficult Path can be lonely and the rewards intangible.
But when you allow yourself the opportunity to explore and reflect, you open a gap between your experience and blind reaction.
The gap allows you to focus on the possibility of your choice while encouraging you to create a new way of BE-ing.
Today is not about getting IT right.
Today is about what is truth for you now.
The Difficult Path follows this truth and helps you find IT within your heart and the actions of your life.
The affirmation of the Difficult Path:
I claim my Difficult Path as my flow of truth,
releasing what no longer serves me,
embracing All in balance with my BE-ing.
This article is part of the articles I have written on the personal aspects of growth through spiritual practice. To read more like this, check out What is Spiritual Practice?
