AT THE CROSSROADS
Have you ever felt tired,
too much change can be stressful, by Suzanne Zoglio, Ph.D
worn out, or a little too old for your
too little change will literally bore
you to death! To feel young and alive
OF A TICKLED SOUL
years…whatever your age? If so, it
might have nothing to do with the
and in synch with your soul’s desires,
number of candles on your birthday
try seeing your next crossroads not
cake. Instead, it could be that you’ve
as a dilemma or misfortune, but as
just gotten a bit too settled, making
an opportunity to re-examine the
your life feel a bit stale.
direction you want to take next in
your life.
In physics the principle of entropy
explains the natural tendency of all
A crossroads may appear due to a
living things to either grow or break
normal life stage (midlife awaken-
down. It demonstrates that there
ing?), an unexpected opportunity
is no such thing as the status quo
(great job offer abroad?), or an
or staying at the same level. If you
unwelcomed wake-up call (health
develop a muscle, it grows stronger.
crisis, divorce, or loss?). So the path
If you don’t use it, it doesn’t stay the
that leads to a fork in the road may
same…it atrophies. If you use your
be quite different for each of us. is so powerful at this stage that even
brain for new experiences, you will
But the road to change is likely to be strong, soulful desires can be sup-
grow new pathways called dendrites.
quite the same. Like most people, pressed and intuition totally ignored.
If you don’t, your brainpower does
you’ll probably travel a few well- It’s as if we are in shock—unable to
not stay the same…it will diminish.
worn paths of denial, awareness, see, hear, or feel what’s going on
“Use it or lose it” is more than an idle
exploration, and doubt before reach- around us. On this path, we pretend
expression.
ing your desired destination. and profess a lot, trying to convince
ourselves of what we suspect may
Relationships that we pay attention
Denial not be true. Denial prevents any
to expand; those that we neglect do
Travelers on the path of denial enter- adaptive action because we hold on
not stay the same…they fade. Per-
tain thoughts such as “This couldn’t for dear life to ideas like “everything
haps you have had a friendship that
be happening to me,” or “Things is fine…really…or at least as good as
was once strong but now is gone. No
are not really that bad.” It’s easier it can be.”
blow-up; no decision to part, just a
to ignore signs
bad case of status quo.
that it’s time
for a change
At various times in life, we come to a
(the queasiness “While the path of denial can
fork in the road and have to choose
in the pit of
provide a safe haven from
which path we’ll take next. One is
your stomach,
familiar, safe, and nicely paved. The
the disquiet- too much change, it can also
other is a bit trickier. It glows with
ing notions in
make you vulnerable if you
adventure, treasures, or perhaps the
your head, the
potential to learn and grow. But this
restless sleep,
stay on the path too long.”
second path is also unfamiliar, fright-
and the joyless
ening, and rather bumpy. The road
days) than to
to the first path leads to contraction;
face the discom-
the second path leads to expansion.
fort of change. It seems better to live
Either you stay in your comfort zone
with known negatives than to risk A few years ago, I worked with a
and let life pass you by, or you take
possible new negatives that might group of chemical workers who were
the risks necessary to move forward
be even worse. The danger side of preparing for a major conversion of
in the direction of your dreams. The
change’s double-edged sword shines all processes in their plant. In the
choice is yours alone. So, although
the brightest. Fear of the unknown group there were a few eager bea-
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