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 28 Spiralling Upwards

When we seek to change something that isn’t working for us, it can take time. It takes even longer when we don’t have the tools we need to create the change we desire; longer still if what we want requires us to fundamentally transform ourselves.  This combination of factors can have us feeling stuck and spinning our wheels for years.

The wisdom in this card arrived with me when I was early in the journey of transforming my life and the way I perceived things.  I had no idea what lay ahead for me and the extent of the learning that would follow. I only knew that I wasn’t happy where I was and that I wasn’t able to produce the results I was looking to achieve by using the approaches that had worked for me in the past.

Feeling confused and defeated by a lack of clarity about the way ahead caused me a high degree of mental discomfort and personal unrest. I came to understand that feeling this way is the precursor to profound personal change. In many regards, the confusion and ‘stuck state’ is an inevitable and necessary part of the change process. It gives us leverage on ourselves to make things better. That as it may be, it doesn’t make it any less frustrating to find oneself facing into a host of dead-end options.

If left unchecked, unresourceful emotions, unappealing stories of personal downfall, gloomy outlooks and punitive inner voices become our constant companions. It’s a dangerous time on the journey towards the next level of self-awareness that will set you free. The temptation to turn back and conclude that ‘something better is not for me’ is high.

At this stage in my journey, I was lucky enough to discover the concept of spiralling upwards. It is said that when the student is ready the teacher appears! On this occasion my learning taught me that we cannot hold two emotions at the same time; try to hold your smile and engage internally with your deepest concerns at the same time and you will see what I mean. It turns out that this is a gift. Since we cannot hold two emotions at once, we have to choose to remain in an unresourceful state or consciously make the decision to shift gear and replace it with a higher vibrational feeling.

It’s counterintuitive to make the conscious choice to shift state at first.  I was surprised at my resistance to let go of my own misery in place of something better sometimes (but that’s a topic for another day).

If you find yourself stuck and feeling hopeless, it’s time to shift state. Its easier than you think once you break through your resistance. Dance, walk, sing, bathe, cook, call someone you adore. I sometimes read through some client testimonials or spontaneously gift my self the rest of the day off. It feels incredibly indulgent and naughty (which I quite like), but it always delivers insights to problems with ease. All these things have the power to deliver a higher frequency.

What would go on your list?

Your vibration raising activity doesn’t need to be elaborate, time consuming or expensive (although there is nothing wrong with having have a few such options to treat yourself to from time to time). I was encouraged to compile a ‘feel-good’ play list that would have me dancing, singing and recalling good times. It’s Raining Men by the Weather Girls and Shania Twain’s Man, I feel like a Woman are personal favourites of mine… just me then? 

The trick is to start where you find yourself. It’s difficult (though not impossible), to move from abject despair to full blown euphoria in one move, but playing your favourite track and dancing about a bit (even if you feel called to shut the blind first), starts a baby spiral of better feeling energy. The more you stay in this state the bigger the circles of good feeling vibes becomes, and you start to spiral upwards. 

The reverse is true if you chose to feed the misery of your lower vibrational states instead. Be warned; the choice is yours. I love the concept of ‘inverse paranoia’; the idea that the world is conspiring to do me good (even when it appears to the contrary). It’s how I now chose to view my reality. It comes from trusting and surrender into what I have come here to learn. It’s what really worked to get me where I find myself now.

The clincher to get me to try spiralling upwards, was learning that we cannot manifest anything from a lower vibrational state. We need to raise our frequency to match the vibration of our desire. We can’t be all that we are here to be whilst we are stuck in our drama, doubt and despair… thank godness for that!

How will you elevate your vibration today I wonder?

You’ve got this.

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.