I’m ending an eight year search for something illusive and perhaps mythical—clarity for my next season of life. The search began when Deep Grief bullied its way into my life. I’ve written about that here; no need to dwell there. Today’s focus: learning along the Way.

Clarity isn’t a thing to pursue, a place to arrive or a point on your calendar. There aren’t six steps to accomplish or a course to take with a certificate of completion.

Clarity searched for in those ways harkens to looking for unicorns.

 

Clarity dawns when taking an action step. The steps look different for all of us; moving forward, trying something new, remain the critical factors.

In 2008 I began the illusive search for clarity. I made a rapid and unplanned exit from my position as teacher and co-director at SLO Classical Academy.  Disorientation and lots of questions overwhelmed me. My search for clarity took a circuitous route; listening to two voices of therapy and coaching helped uncover common threads in my life that I clung to in my disorientation. I used those threads to begin a new garment for the new season.

After two years of pursuit I gained certification as a life coach. This accomplishment didn’t usher in the clarity I sought.

I sought purpose; not something simply to keep me busy in the impending empty-nest season. I battled internal gremlins voicing lack of worthiness for my out of the box choice career choice. Yet as I worked with clients, common phrases began to surface; phrases affirming the presence I offer them and the gift of listening well.

I love working with people as they seek next steps in their journeys.  Inner life questions of purpose and calling can feel mysterious. Learning to ‘let your life speak’ as Parker Palmer so eloquently writes, allows search and discovery of common threads woven through your life.

Seeking clarity is not the same.

(photo cred:https://unsplash.com/@samscrim )

We’re promised light for the next step; a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path. We will hear a quiet whisper that tells us this is the way walk in it.  But clarity is a modern construct and remains illusive like the hunt for unicorns.

I spent years seeking clarity; crying out to God for discernment, not wanting to waste the precious time I have left here. No beacon illumined my path; no voice from on high spoke light into my darkness.  Had I missed a memo? Was my faith fractured?

Clarity showed itself as I took one step at a time. Clarity revealed itself as I climbed steep paths, looking back to see the evident clues along the Way.  Clarity continues to show up as I take a step of faith on undefined paths following the Leader as He calls me forward.

Clarity is not impossible or imaginary like hunting unicorns.  But similar to the mythical unicorn, clarity is not a thing to be achieved; it reveals itself rather than submitting to a dogged pursuit.

In what area of your life have you been hunting for clarity?

Purpose? Career? Relationship?

I’d love to help make your search shorter.