How do you know you’re on the right path?

Hey there, friend!

Have you ever had trouble trying to figure out what you know? There is all this information coming to you about a desicion or a situation, and then there are the values that you have and the experiences you’ve learned from and it all seems contradictory and mis-aligned, and you’ve heard people say that “in you, you know what you to do,” but you just feel dazed and confused?

With everything that happens in the world, with everything that happens around you, and for everything that happens in you - in your body, blood, mind and heart; around what you believe, what you feel, what you give yourself to and keep yourself from; how you spend all those joyful, painful, and in-between moments - how do you know that you’re on the path you’re supposed to be on? 

What if I told you that leaving behind the notion of right and wrong will help you make better choices? That there isn’t really a wrong path, only the path that you’re on and your capacity to walk in any direction? That the plan for your life is less about what you do and more about who you are? That all you have is yourself, your body, your heart, and whatever is with you at this moment? 

Let go of the idea of getting it right and think more in terms of being where you are and you’ll find what you need to live your way through all the happenings in all the spheres that make up your life. 

And while there are people, institutions, groups, even governments, traditions, and family-ways-of-doing-things that have wisdom to give you, rules to follow, suggestions and ideas about things that have worked before and might work for you now, the only person who can make a decision about what you’re doing with your one wild and precious life (thanks, Mary)...

Is you. 

And while that may seem daunting and scary and overwhelming, and to some even dangerous and shocking, it’s ok. Breathe. Relax. You were made for this. You can make decisions about your life, beliefs and longings because inside you, wound up in your bones, entwined through your breath, flowing through your blood, built into your essence,

Wisdom lives. 

You have a Deep Knowing, or as the ancient Jewish tradition calls it, inner wisdom. Something that is connected to the fabric of it all that you can sink down into, call upon when you need it. It’s the stillness the Psalmist* talked about and the peace that Paul* depended on. You don’t have to listen to the greatest teacher, have coffee with a renowned leader, read the right book, go to the best conference, say the right prayer; there aren’t enough church services you could go to, good deeds you could perform, people to impress, God to please, for you to be given the wisdom you need right now.

The wisdom you need is in you.

So how do you figure out what you really know? If it’s in there, how do you find it? How do you rummage through all the noise? How do you sift through the different choices and ideas? What does it take to set aside bias and comfort and self sabotage and perfectionism and passive aggression and all of the things we use to distract ourselves with, to get to what is that You Know? And how do you know that it’s The Thing, and not just something trying to keep you from getting to The Thing?

This week here in the App, I’m going to teach you how to feel around for it, find it, get to know it, listen to it, ask it good questions, and take those leaps of faith what You Know will ask you to take. You’ll find it. You already know the way. 

Because listen, everything you do is an act of faith; everything you do is comes from a narrative and belief about you and God and the world and how we all work together. We may as well figure out if we’re humming along to a good tune.  

Journal Prompt: Instead of thinking about all the things you should have done, could have done; the things that you aren’t and the things you wish you were, take a moment to focus on a decision you made, something that you did, that made you feel alive, made you feel like you. Speak to yourself about that choice like you would if it was your child, partner, or friend that you were encouraging and praising. 

Liz Milani
Instagram: @thepracticeco 

From this week’s series titled "Figuring Out What You Know", with a subscription, in the App. Hope to see you there.