Just as Dorothy and her friends followed the yellow brick road to reach the Wizard of Oz and fulfill the wish that was dearest to each of them, all of us are doing something similar.

We are walking down our own roads with the goals, wishes, dreams and desires of our hearts and imaginations driving us forward. As each brick is laid down before us on this path called life, the only choice we get is whether to step forward faithfully or fearfully. Sure, we could stand still, but where would that get us?

Walk with fear, and the shadows and demons you believe exist will certainly find you. Walk with faith, and you allow for the beauty and magic of your path unfold.

Maybe, like me, you have moments when you’ve grown a bit weary of the walking. It is daunting and frustrating when you have such a clear vision of what you’re walking toward and yet it is so seemingly unreachable.

Fear would dishearten you. It would have you believe you’re not capable enough to reach your goal, not worthy of the prize you seek or any other number of fallacies. Faith, however, will sustain you. It will nudge you forward, providing you with precisely what you need to experience in order to grow, learn, mature and evolve so that you may get where you want to go.

The universe is not conspiring against us.

On the contrary, it is conspiring with us to make manifest the pure, true essence of love and light that is our very nature. If what you dream and desire is in the spirit of that nature, please have faith and believe that it will come to fruition. And please know that I know just how tricky it can be to walk this walk. I’m not preaching something I haven’t been through myself!

If it were easy to be patient as life unfolds, then we’d miss out on so many opportunities to become ever better versions of ourselves. We would not have a frame of reference from which to truly appreciate the abundant blessings bestowed upon us.

We can better revel in light’s beauty because we have known darkness. We can better taste the sweetness of nourishing, delicious food when we have known what it is to be hungry or consume only impurities. We can truly revere the sacred importance of having a loving, devoted partner when we’ve known what it is to live life without one.

I’m not suggesting you seek out the negative extremes just for the sake of having a richer experience with the positive one. Rather, be mindful of it all.

Be keenly aware of every opportunity and experience, every brick on your path down the road of life, because it is there for a reason. Sometimes that reason is to teach a hard, uncomfortable lesson, so you can better receive a blessing that is to come somewhere down the road.

Me, I’m not the most patient person by nature. It has taken a great concerted effort to practice more patience and mindfulness in my life.

I grew tired of suffering the consequences of living the other way. Lack of patience ultimately stems from control issues. When you’re impatient, it’s because you want what you want, when you want it, because you want to be in control. When you finally have the ah-ha moment where you realize how precious little you get to control, patience is a lot easier to come by.

And when you’re practicing patience, faith replaces fear almost effortlessly.

Don’t believe me? Give it a try and see if it isn’t a little easier and more joyful to take those next steps down your Yellow Brick Road.

Jessica Avila is the founder of Ocean Om standup paddle yoga, as well as a Sivananda and vinyasa yoga instructor in Fort Lauderdale, FL. For her writing, like yoga, is a practice in spirituality, self-discovery and self-healing. Reach her at [email protected] and visit www.oceanom.com for more on yoga or jessavila.blogspot.com for more on what she has to say.

 

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Editor: Cassandra Smith

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