Because the Universe Said So

Machu Picchu, Peru

As I put the finishing touches on this something or other, my present circumstances find me on an airplane, quite comfortable actually, relaxing in my plush first class seat, with ample leg room, this man is sure grateful for the free upgrade, on my way to Tulum, Mexico to close out something I have been working towards all year, but more on that in a bit. Feel like I have some explaining to do, been thinking about how I provide that explanation for a long while, well the moment has finally arrived. Where have I been for the last year, maybe even longer?  I suppose this is just my way of catching you all up…  It has been an amazing year, yet, sort of light on travel, for me at a least. I have been to Mexico a few times, and London called me to visit for the first time, but that’s about it. Those of you who have been following along here for the past three years have probably noticed, the slower cadence of my writing here over the past year or so, and maybe even the tone and nature of it all. Initially this place was all about my adventures, travels, and experiences, and certainly there is still some of that on occasion, but the nature of this is thing, shifted somewhere along the way, but the truth is, I am the one who shifted. What began as one thing, was really just the universe’s way of getting me on the path it needed me to be on.

While I have alluded to it in the past here, and written about it to some degree, there are very few people in my life that have an understanding and full context of the extent of the aft mentioned shift. While I remain the same Joshua, that is still how I come on to the world, within, I am not even close to the person I was three years ago, I am the same but not really, it is sort of a difficult thing to explain, and I won’t tire you attempting to do so. So onward we go, as of late I can’t escape the feeling that I am living a double life of sorts.  While my daughters, home, and company have me calling Indiana home, that is one part of my life, the other part is in this work and path that found me, friends that I made along the way, a purpose, places that feel more like home than my home, and those of you who invited me in with open arms to be part of your family, you know who you are. That part of this life seems to be elsewhere, so there exists an energetic pull that I have not quite figured out what do with, it’s like a game of tug-o-war and I am in the middle, suppose there is really nothing to be done, for now at least, just accept it for what is and be grateful that my life is overflowing with such love and abundance.    

We should probably get back to the reason I am on my way to Mexico, late last year I was invited to participate in a Coaching Certification program with a teacher that I had been working with as the coached. I have never had any desire to coach people in sort of formal way, I realize now though, that is what I have been doing most of my adult life.  I found myself in a role of leading people as a very young adult and have had the privilege the learn from some amazing leaders, and some of the worst leaders imaginable.  I promise, you can learn just as much from those mired in ignorance, as those exuding brilliance from every pore, maybe even more, and you can’t manage and lead people with any brilliance, without doing some coaching along the way. But I regress, that is not the point here, the point is that when I said “yes” to the invite, I did it mostly for selfish reasons. In order to coach and guide others, no matter what it is they are trying to shift in their lives, you have to be able to hold open a space for that expansion to happen, you have to keep reminding them of the truth, never allowing yourself to be caught up in their story, and in order to do that, you have to be extremely clear within yourself.  So that was my reasoning, I knew that I had more work to do, work I wanted to do, awareness I was seeking, and so I embarked on this journey that took most of the extra time and energetic resources I had during this past year. It was 12 months of daily commitment and work, to not only learn how coach and teach, but also bring myself to place where I could hold that space open for others to find their path.  It has been an incredibly rewarding journey.  This is what has put me in the seat of this airplane headed for Mexico, to meetup with my teacher and the other students in the program, a week together to bring all this work to a close.  Looking forward to it, I have spent many hours with these people on video calls, yet I have not met even one in person, but that will all change later today.  They are my brothers, now and forever…

I committed a lot of energy to this thing throughout the year, it didn’t feel like there was much left for writing and some other things in life. Keep in mind that I still have a business to run and lead, as well as show up for my daughters. I couldn’t even tell you the amount of pages read or hours of coaching practice session I did in my car sitting in the parking lot at some out of town softball tournament, but it was a lot on both accounts. I certainly had to give up some things along the way, for a vast array of reasons to numerous and complicated to mention. The funny thing is, I did find time to write, I have written a lot this year, probably more than ever, at this point writing is just part of how I make sense of my mind in daily life, but rarely did I muster the energetic resources to polish it up to be published here. It really has been those three things I mentioned, my daughters, my business, and this program, that have garnered my consciousness over the last 12 months.  Now the year is drawing to a close, I find myself incredibly grateful for the present moment, for the circumstances I have created in my story, as well as reflecting on what has been and what might be.

While I never intended to coach anyone, it seems that was always the purpose the universe had in store for me.  I see now that I have been gifted with an awareness, clarity, and consciousness that others are looking to find.   Most people spend their entire lives searching for their purpose and many never find it, so I am incredibly grateful that I know mine, and it is not just a superficial external purpose, it is an internal purpose. There is a curiosity in how this all works, when a person really lands where they are meant to be, the vibration they put out in the world is such that there is no resistance, perceived barriers just fall away, the laws of attraction take over, and the universe brings it into reality. This has been my experience over these last couple of months. People seem to keep finding me, asking if I will work with them, and I haven’t even begun anything formally yet.  I wasn’t looking for any clients but somehow they found me anyway. That is the curious part to me, it seems obvious, but yet somehow elusive, but once you are clear with yourself, it simply unfolds as it was always intended. 

So that is what is next, sometime early next year I will launch a new website as a place for people to find me.  I don’t need this, I don’t need the money, nor the extra work, certainly not another business to run, or the time commitment, but it is, and it was intended, and I intend to follow it wherever it leads.  The universe decided for me you might say, and when the universe speaks, I listen.  This was never in my plan, but if there is someone out there that is called to work with me, who am I to get in the way of what the universe has said needs to be so…

Now that is all out of the way and in motion, maybe I can get back to just writing whatever strikes my fancy in the moment!

Your life is your story, and you are the author…

Joshua