Years ago, at a spiritual workshop, I placed a request on the group altar. It said... "Please God, I need a quantum leap."
One week later, life as I'd known it...ended. My business parntership dissolved, my boyfriend dumped me, and the place where I'd been living was sold and closed escrow in less than a week. I had two days to move out. I was suddenly homeless, unemployed, on my own, broke, and in shock.
As I stood in the empty house, I screamed and vented until I was spent and as empty as the house. In the echo of silence, the phone rang, and I was asked if I could house sit at a friend's apartment for a week. I gratefully said, "Yes, thank you."
The apartment was near the biggest rose garden in Sacramento, McKinley Park. My first night in the garden I smelled a flower on every bush. The roses were blooming, thousands of them, magnificently. Those open blossoms reflected a need in me; my need to stay open, to Be.
Right then, I made the decision to not fold in on myself. I set a goal of making five outgoing phone calls each morning. In the evenings I would sit in the rose garden and be still, supported by the beauty and fragrance of the flowers. The third evening, I heard a quiet voice in my head that said, Volunteer. They need help. I had no idea what that meant.
The next morning, my friend Jim told me about a new natural food store that was opening, and that the owners were trading food for hours worked. I volunteered that morning. During the interview, I mentioned my situation, and that a place to live was first on my list of priorities. That night as I left, the store owners handed me the keys to an empty, but brand-new home in a beautiful neighborhood close the store. They asked me to house-sit, rent free, until they were ready to move into it - they were waiting for their old home to sell before they moved.
As I sat in the rose garden for the last time, I gave thanks. In the quiet, I heard the words, Had you resisted the changes, you would be stuck in misery and despair. Your life is changing and opening up to a new magnificent level because you are allowing new possibilities every moment.
I eventually formed a new business alliance, found an office, more friends, a renewed purpose in life, and a new home close to my new work. That was a major time of upheaval, of change and I feel it is happening to many more of us currently.
This is my reminder to myself and others to stay centered, calm, and grateful and let the magic unfold. ~ Lee Russell