Trust Even the Dark Moments

If you have been to one of my classes, you know that I end each class with a reading from one of my favorite authors, Melody Beattie. Her book Journey to the Heart is a collection of 365 dated meditations, and even after reading from it for more than 18 years, I am still floored by how often that day's reading reflects exactly what I am feeling or experiencing. 

And it is not only me. My students often mentioned how moved they were, too.

Sometimes I read from the actual day. Other times, I open the book and choose a reading at random. Somehow, the reading always lands—every time.

On September 26th, the day's meditation was Trust Even the Dark Moments. I have read it many times over the years, but this time it stayed with me. Maybe because of the season of life I am in right now. Maybe because, through a bit of distance, I can see some of my own dark moments differently than I could when I was living through them.

No matter what season of life I am in, this reading reminds me that every part of our journey has something to offer us, even the parts we would never choose for ourselves.

Some seasons are difficult, challenging, exhausting, and sometimes incredibly painful. In the middle of them, it can be almost impossible to see beyond where we are. We want to understand why something is happening. We want to fix it. Move through it. Find the lesson and get to the other side.

But sometimes the lesson isn't clear until much later.

The roadblocks that appear along the way may force us to change direction. They may take us somewhere we never intended to go. They may ask us to slow down, begin again, let go of what we thought life was supposed to look like, or discover something about ourselves we might never have learned otherwise.

I have hit many roadblocks in my own journey. Constantly moving and starting over. Infertility. Grief. Chronic illness. Pain. And even almost dying.

I would never say I am grateful those things happened. But I can look back now and see how those experiences shaped me. They changed my perspective. They taught me resilience. They made me more compassionate. They showed me what matters. They showed me what doesn't.

And through it all, even in some incredibly dark moments, I have learned that I don't always have to know where the path is leading to keep moving forward. 

Trust even the dark moments.