Gael McCool - Be Wise Now : A Guide To Conscious Living

Every life is a sacred work of artan assemblage of real and surreal, fact and fiction, order and chaosa divine mix of mess and magic. What holds it all together is your capacity to create stories, extract meaning from your experience, and assemble the pieces into an evolving narrative about who you are and your place in the world.

Your everyday story unfolds naturally as you cruise along on autopilot, but when life presents you with an unexpected plot twist, a fantastic opportunity emerges: the chance to consciously engage in the deeper story of your life .

It doesnt matter whether that twist presents as health problems, relationship trouble, parenting difficulties, career complications, or any other bump in the road of life; challenge and change provide incredible opportunities for self - discovery , learning, and growth. During such turmoil, you have unprecedented opportunities to re - evaluate your needs, priorities, and direction.

When sudden changes occur, or your path no longer appears to be taking you where you thought you were going, its easy to become disoriented. Things you once thought were rock solid can be called into question, and your sense of identity and security can be disrupted as conflicting inner directions emerge.

Such moments of confusion bring perfectly normal, successful, high - functioning people to my door: clients who unexpectedly find themselves unmoored by some difficult life circumstance. In such situations, people instinctively reach out to gain perspective. My job is to teach them how to reach inward.

At lifes critical turning points, you cant rely on someone else for your answers. Regardless of how brilliant or well - intentioned an advisor, therapist, or coach may be, there is no other person in the world who inhabits your unique set of perceptions and experiences. Nobody else can say whats right for you; all they can do is support you in discovering your own truth.

This doesnt mean you shouldnt seek feedback and guidance; we all need support along the way. It simply means that, in the end, you alone must decide what is in keeping with your deepest integrity.

Deep down, a part of you always knows the answer you seekbut that doesnt necessarily mean it is easy to uncover. Getting to your deepest truth can be complicated because just like the outer world, your inner world is filled with conflicting ideas, feelings, contradictions, and paradoxes. To find genuinely meaningful answers, you need to learn how to dive beneath the surface and move through the usual defenses so you can listen deeply and discriminately to inner prompts. Those very prompts can take you to the deeper story of your life.

Imagine how different your life would be if, during your most challenging moments, you could:

• Connect with a deeper sense of purpose
• Inhabit your bodys wisdom
• Rewire your survival mechanisms
• Wholeheartedly embrace your emotion al nature
• Apply the subtle workings of your intuition
• Employ the creative genius of your imagination
• Utilize the discerning power of your intellect
• Ground yourself in a social support system
• Work with the catalytic energies behind your wound ing, your ego , your judgment , and your shadow to inspire higher consciousness
• Activate the subconscious value in your dreams
• Rewrite the narratives with which you make sense of yourself and the world around you

In accepting and working deeply with every part of yourself, you would move from fragmentation to wholeness, and toward the possibility of living a fully conscious and accountable life. And that, my friend, is a rare and beautiful thing.