How to feel really, really good about things
The check "in" / check "out" method for making grounded, aligned decisions
There I was in a new city. First class of the semester. Top graduate school for journalism.
It was supposed to be a new era, but it was feeling familiar.
Recently returned from soul searching in New Zealand and Indonesia, I was still living out of boxes. Down one relationship and up on doing something productive with my life, I busied myself with an op-ed workshop and learning how to apply for a Fulbright.
I left New York City and got myself alone to the other side of the world and back. But nine months later, there I was in my first class of graduate school. On time. Pencil ready.
I'd gone out with grand plans, and come home the same. Have you ever been there?
When I take myself back to that time, an ache returns to my solar plexus (which, if you know your chakras, is the home of personal power right in the center of your body).
That's why I'm sharing this story now.
Because if I'd had a good crew of wise advisors, a place where I could air and safely gestate the ideas that were still coming into form, I might have said no to that graduate school offer.
During that period of exploration, I got to know myself better and had amazing experiences, but I didn’t know to do one thing—integrate the lessons of my journey.
Upon my return, I moved ahead without really registering all the new information and wisdom I'd collected.
The thing about awareness is that it's just that--a wider view. You have to tussle with what your expanded perspective really means for you, and that's just easier with others cheering you on.
Before you move ahead after any big change, you need to know what you're leaving behind, and what you're bringing with you.
What if you were to make your next big decision from a place of wholeness?
This post originally appeared on marastone.co.