Each week in The Wisdom of Change blog series, I share the original artwork and unpack the insights and meaning behind one of the 44 cards in The Wisdom of Change oracle deck.
This week’s card is 4 Help Others
This wisdom of this card takes me back to a time when things were really rough for me. I’d just split with my partner of 10 years, I had a fledgling business with an erratic income and huge overheads. The children were young, and although incredibly cute they were equally demanding. I longed to spend more time with them undisturbed by the gnawing fear of how I was going to pay the exorbitant running costs and credit card repayments again this month. When I was physically present with my beautiful children my mind was distracted by how I was going to build my business, find new clients, date the right type of guy and generally sort my life out (which seemed to be falling apart in front of my eyes).
I can laugh about it now, but it was completely overwhelming and terrifying at the time.
Luckily, I knew that I was going through a period of profound personal growth and experiencing the rapid rate of change that often goes with it. I was in the midst of an awakening, if you will. Knowing this made sense of the waves of fear and drama that I’m sure would otherwise have pulled me under. If I had connected too deeply to the fear, or believed in my experiences too literally, I would have drowned.
One of the most game changing things I learnt was what I call the power of counterintuitive action. The wisdom of helping others is a great example. If I had not known that I was going through a shift in consciousness, I am certain that this phase in my life would have led me to identify myself as a victim. It would have been ‘all about me’ and I would have wasted time and energy making other people wrong, finding the blame for what caused my situation and feeling like I had done something bad for making all the wrong choices.
When every fibre of my body wanted to cry for help, I learnt the power of turning this on its head. Instead of surrendering to despair, I heard my inner wisdom gently inquire of me ‘who needs your help right now?’ The shift in perspective felt like the life raft I was seeking. I recalled what I had learnt; we are all here to be of service. Despite my own anguish and fear, what was it that I could offer to others that would help them on their path? What resources did I have available right now that would be the perfect medicine for someone just behind me on their path?
A focus away from myself was just the tonic I needed.
I created retreat content for women who were experiencing pain in life that they could not understand. I pulled together all the tools I had learnt that had helped me to place context around my experience and set me free from fear. I planned menus and sourced goodie bags of nurturing resources. I sourced fellow practitioners and props such as oracle decks, crystals and oils in service to others and in so doing I healed myself too. The outcome of my shift in focus away from me were life changing retreat events and transformational 1-1 coaching containers. They were designed and delivered by me for women like me. They changed my life and those they were designed for and they continue to do so.
We are all here to be of service and it’s likely that what you are here to learn from and how you overcome it is the ‘secret sauce’ that others are looking for too.
So who are you here to help?
I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s connection to your inner wisdom.
As always, I’d love to hear your comments below.
If you’d like to learn more about The Wisdom of Change oracle deck you can find out more here.
If you'd like to find out more about a Wisdom of Change reading with Wendy please click here.