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Earlier this week, I had a moment of doubt. Actually, it’s been creeping in for a few weeks. I started thinking about what I was doing here on this site, whether I could really change the world or not, if spirituality really could be discussed openly, let alone applied to life, and, quite frankly, whether or not there was an audience for this stuff. I found myself chasing the end and shifting my focus from writing to links, stats, and feed subscriptions. As you can imagine, the more I concentrated on the mechanics of things and the less I focused on the content, the more doubtful I became. Hence my question on Monday, “How do you know you’re on the right path?”

As we realize we can do, be, and have anything we want - ANYTHING - life becomes a question about WHAT we want. Sometimes it’s downright petrifying to choose something, especially if you’ve made a 180 degree shift. For example, I decided that I want to raise spiritual awareness, and I want to do it in a BIG way. Now, I’m in IT (information technology). I’m a pretty spiritual person, but I don’t have any formal training in spirituality. Not to mention, that I want to do it in BIG way and I have no idea what that way is. Suddenly, my ordered, predictable, competent path along IT fell away. I could see the mountain peak, but the path to get there is obliterated. So how do I know that I’m making the right choices along the path?

I know I made the right choice when:

2 or 3 more steps are revealed to me.

This is the coolest thing. Nothing beats confirmation like 2 or 3 more openings after the first one.

So, say you determine that your purpose is helping non-profits spread their message by leveraging social media. You’re currently unemployed and you figure that before you set out on your purpose you better find a way to pay the bills. You have solid programming skills so you apply to all the IT positions, but nothing is resonating with you. You just feel like it’s draining your soul. You reluctantly go to an interview that a recruiter set up. You’re in the lobby thinking why am I here.

You walk into the interview at a Fortune 500 company and find out that they’re not just looking for someone who knows Java scripting and a little about databases. You find out that one of the current projects is with a non-profit who wants to connect the beneficiaries of their services with their donors. Not only that, but, the Fortune 500 company is looking to this project to be the prototype for other projects like this.

1, 2, 3…You’re elated, and your interest is piqued. That’s a clue that you may have made the right decision.

The struggle ends.

The clouds part and light shines from the heavens. Okay, well, maybe not that dramatic.

You may well feel like you are in a battle for your survival. Not a life or death survival, but you may be in a battle to preserve your way life. For example, I like getting service. If I had to say where my money goes, I wouldn’t say shoes or clothes, I would say service. Any vocation that I take up has to support that habit. For years I thought that I had to work 60 hour weeks while ignoring my health to do so. Then one day, I just decided to end the struggle. I wanted to find out what I was really meant to do. Every step since then has been an easier, smoother transition and today, I make decisions that ead me in the direction of my purpose. The swim upstream is over and all my needs and wants are abundantly met.

It hits me 3 times.

I gave the example on Monday of getting confirmation 3 times. I started to doubt whether I should be pursuing this writing thing, then I got confirmation 3 times (and a couple after that) that I was on the right track.

I use this litmus test when I’m really confused. I don’t look for it either. I just stumble upon the confirmations. That way I don’t end up seeing signs everywhere I turn. They just show up. I realize that this runs counter to the look-for-the-alpha-reflection camp, but I find that I can conjure an alpha reflection out of air. What’s more difficult, is for me to orchestrate 3 independent, spontaneous nods.

Sometimes, there is no way to know.

Sometimes, try as I might to read the signs or check for the path, I have no clue whether the decision I made was the right one or not. Even today, there are choices that I made 10+ years ago I can’t say were right or wrong. Their meanings unfold daily and I may not ever know for sure. Sometimes, you just have to take the leap without seeing the path and move in a direction. That’s why life’s an adventure!

In Spirit,
Nneka