An Angel Whispered to Him

Aaron couldn’t step into his future. He couldn’t go back to his past. He looked around at his life. There wasn’t much happening now.

Ten months ago, his wife had come home from work, looked him in the eye, and said she was divorcing him. Then she was gone.

Three months later, he lost his job. It wasn’t the best job in the world, but it was his. Now it was summer in the Midwest. He didn’t have a relationship. He didn’t have a job. He didn’t have any prospects. And his bank account was dwindling fast.

He didn’t know what to do next. Hell, he didn’t know what to do now.

He put on his bathing suit and jumped into the pool.

When am I going to be happy again? he wondered, doing laps. What he heard was a quiet thought, almost like it was whispered in his ear: Why not be happy now?

Two years later, Aaron would recall much differently that difficult time when he didn’t understand what was happening. He would describe it as the beginning of a new cycle, a time when seeds were being planted for career and love that would blossom later. He’d tell you that the most important thing wasn’t that eventually he got the money, the job, and a new girl. The most important thing Aaron learned was that it was okay to relax and sometimes even be happy when he didn’t know what was going to happen next.

Of course we’re not going to be happy all the time when we’re wandering around in the dark. It’s uncomfortable and frightening when we can’t see the way ahead and don’t know what’s going on now.

There are many times I’ve felt forsaken by God, lacking intuition, without a clue about what to do next. Nothing I tried worked. And the harder I tried, the less right anything felt and the more fearful and paralyzed I’d become.

When I began skydiving I used to complain to my instructor about the wind. “Be grateful for the wind,” he’d say. “You need it to push against. It’s how you move your body around in the air. That’s what it’s there for—to help you fly.”

Step into the blackness. Even the fear is an important part. At least we’re feeling afraid; at least we’re waking up. In skydiving, the air is what we need to push against. In life, it’s often our confusion and fear.

Sometimes we need to take action—push against the resistance we’re feeling. Sometimes the external pressure is quietly shaping and forming us into what we’re about to become. Those times of not feeling guided, not feeling led, not knowing what to do next can be as powerful as taking clear action.

When we think we’re alone, when we’re frightened, it’s our head talking, not our hearts. Stop trying to figure out the whole picture. You can’t see it if it hasn’t been shown to you yet. Trying to do the impossible will only make things worse.

Instead, focus on one little thing that’s possible. Take a bath. Take a shower. Jump into the pool and go for a swim. Get out of your head and calm those frazzled nerves. If you can’t make it better—whatever it is—at least you can help yourself settle down and relax.

Life’s magic—call it whatever you will—isn’t a force we grasp for. We’re naturally connected to the flow of things. When we just do the next possible thing—whether or not it’s connected to solving the problem—life’s magic comes to us.

When we’re surrounded by things that look impossible, making a simple choice to do something that’s possible is a powerful thing to do.

From the book: Choices: Taking Control of Your Life and Making It Matter