I feel like I’m in sporadic labor – sometimes still, serene and excited for the new life coming, sometimes tempted to push in my old way, to force the world to see my radical views and accept my “help”. I breathe through it and KNOW I cannot “do” my work in the same way that brought me success and exhaustion in the past – by the force of my will and my personality. I sometimes feel fear as my personality gives way to presence and I wonder if I will ever engage fully in the outer world and contribute again. I also know what precious energy is wasted when we try hard to “make it happen” from a place of fear and need.

I do believe this values shift is requiring each of us to shift what we are offering, how we are offering it and how we are present to ourselves and in the world. For those of us who charged ahead believing we could make anything happen by will and work, it is time to sit back and wait for the wave and the flow.

2. I feel the values shift as I oscillate between feeling “stuck” in my teaching job because of the poor economy and my own personal nervousness about not having a stable income and benefits, and the overwhelming desire to throw caution to the wind and do what I love.

This values shift has awakened my husband and I to the importance of finding balance between financial security and following our passion (he’s a musician). We have learned a lot of challenging lessons over the last four years, but they have strengthened our relationship and our love for one another.

Sometimes I see myself as being scattered and “all over the place” especially with my career, so knowing this values shift is taking place helps me feel OK about where I’ve been, where I am and where I’m going.