I was having lunch with a dear friend today listening to a great story of how he met a guy at his children’s school who was launching a project and they got to talking about it, which led to my friend giving him some pointers on his presentation and getting very interested in supporting him in fulfilling his dream. As we were talking, I realized that it was also possible that my friend could see that as a way to branch out for himself, that by helping this new friend, he could explore ways to go in a new direction. He has a good business, but sometimes doesn’t feel as inspired as he would like, so wants to see if there is more for him out in the world.
I call that following the thread–when something shows up in front of us, do we discount it, do we just notice it, or do we let ourselves follow the thread and see where it leads?
I wrote recently that I had spent a good part of the last eleven years studying with John Demartini. That was an example of following a thread. I had made friends with the guys who did the taping of the workshops during the annual conference on Business and Consciousness held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in 1998. After I returned home, they sent me a tape of a workshop I hadn’t attended run by a Demartini student that explained and took people through the Quantum Collapse Process (now called The Demartini Method). I was so intrigued that I searched out Demartini and by June of the next year took my first workshop with him. Now, after over 55 classes with him, I’m following another thread of seeing how well I can apply what I have learned outside of the form of student/teacher and into the just live it place.
I met the leader of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence at a conference and offered her some pointers on how to see a situation differently and ended up working with her for three years as Executive Coach of the Make Mine a Million $ Business program. That was a very powerful thread to follow! I learned a tremendous amount about myself, women in business and how to be effective in the non-profit world all at the same time.
In 1970 I reconnected with an old friend whose children were in Montessori school and she introduced me to some friends of hers who were Montessori teachers, which led me to meet the woman who was starting a new Montessori Training Institute in Mexico City and I ended up moving there in the fall of 1971 and studying for two years to get a degree in Montessori education. When I connected with my friend, I had no idea where it would lead, but I was open and followed the thread.
After teaching for four years, I tried being a homemaker but wasn’t too great at being at home all the time, so went into my husband’s office to help file invoices and ended up running a manufacturer’s rep firm for twenty-nine years! By following the thread, I ended up finding out I was a business woman, something that hadn’t even occurred to me.
These are just a few examples of how I have followed threads throughout my life. I don’t think I’m so different from other people, but I think I might be more aware of the patterns we create in our lives as we move through them. This is part of why I’m writing my series on being a Life Entrepreneur, so that others can see the ways that they already are–and by being more conscious of it, make choices that really work for them.
We carve out our lives and we follow threads–in this way we do our part in collaborating with higher intelligence to live fully. We have no control over the world, what happens around us, what others think, say or do. But we do have control over the choices we make, and the more conscious we are of that fact, the greater the possibility of making choices that truly serve us and those around us.
Love that!