Copyright (c) 2010 Christine Kloser

Imagine you're trotting along in your business, doing everything you think you should be doing, only to discover your compass wasn't pointing to your true north. Your compass was being impacted by the direction that society, family, colleagues, and perhaps even coaches thought you should go in.

One day, you wake up to the reality that you aren't where you want to be even though it all "looks" right on the outside. The problem is it doesn't FEEL right on the inside. At first, you may deny the reality that's setting in, you may try harder to get ahead and stay out there and do what you feel must be done to just keep going (though somewhat blindly), and eventually, you have an experience like I did last week; eventually you truly see what's been happening. And, you allow yourself to feel the pain of the misalignment, of not paying attention to what you were feeling, to squelching that intuitive nudge that was whispering to you over and over again.

Basically, you dive!

But, the most important part of diving is not keeping yourself underwater when you have the tools to propel yourself back up to the surface. So, you may be asking, "What do you mean by keeping myself under water?" What I mean is you could choose (perhaps unconsciously) to keep yourself stuck; to stuff that's going on, to "get busy," to look outside of yourself and blame someone else, to beat yourself up, to affirm to yourself you're "not enough", to doubt if anything you've ever done has mattered, and on it goes.

When you're on this journey of waking up and truly embracing what it means to be a conscious entrepreneur, these moments of "diving" are going to happen, they are part of your ascension process. However, that does not mean you get to stay there, not by a long shot! It is your responsibility to do what you need to do to shift yourself. Conscious entrepreneurs are the rising leaders in our transforming world... but we can't contribute anything if we're keeping ourselves "under water."

So, how can you propel yourself to the surface? I'll share with you what I did in hopes it will help you navigate the narrow passages that rise up on this journey. First, I allowed the painful feelings to rise to the surface, I allowed the tears to flow, I allowed myself to feel what I was feeling and dive into the feeling rather than stuff it down as it welled up inside of me.

I gave myself permission to curl up on the couch in my office and cry, in the middle of the work day! This is not something I've ever allowed myself to do... I had a "rule" that if it's between 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM, I had to work. Well, it became crystal clear to me that curling up on the couch and crying WAS exactly the WORK I needed to do in that moment.

I shared what I was going through with some of my closest friends and soul family, and received their love and support. I didn't try to rush through my process, rather I gently allowed myself to be in it as long as I needed until I felt the light shining through.

As a result, I also discovered that I can give myself the gift of "diving" in the middle of a workday and come back to my desk after I shifted into a peaceful place. I dove, and then returned to the surface to crank out "practical" work with more ease and speed than I ever could have if I didn't allow myself the space to feel what was happening first.

This is what, for me, it looks like to lead myself. I did what I needed to do for me. I went through it on my own, but I didn't isolate myself in the process. I allowed myself time and space (without an agenda) to BE with what was happening. And, I could then do what needed to be done for my business (and my family) even while I was in the thick of my process.

So, let me ask, what would it look like for you to lead yourself out of these narrow passages that arise on your path? How would you move through the doubt, fear and pain to reconnect with and rediscover the magnificent, bright light inside of you?

You are a conscious entrepreneur. You are on a SOUL journey. You are here to awaken. You are here to serve FROM your highest FOR the highest. Learning to lead yourself from the darkness to the light is one of the most important things you can do for yourself, and the world around you.

© 2010 Christine Kloser