As we struggle to make it through this life, doing the best that we can, it doesn’t always feel easy to know the next right step to take. Especially when we are going through a particularly hard time in our lives, and it feels like the voices in our head keep getting louder and louder, it can be incredibley difficult to know what to do and what is the best path that we can take.
A few years ago, I didn’t feel like my life was working at the speed that I felt that it should work. One particular day, I went to one of my favorite places to seek guidance, the Gilbert Arizona Temple, in the attitude of fasting, for those that don’t know what this means, it means going 24 hours without food and water. It is often done to create a stronger connection to heaven to receive answers. I had even invited others close to me to pray and fast for me. When I got to the temple, I helped some people out and then I went and prayed and afterwards flipped open the scriptures to Alma 34. My eyes were drawn to verses 40-41. These basically say have patience and bear thy afflictions with a firm hope that one day you will rest from your afflictions. I realize now that Heavenly Father was telling me to just be patient and everything was going to work out. However, I wanted way more guidance than that! I began to plead and plead in prayer for further guidance and nothing came and nothing came, and I was getting frustrated and then I had a single thought cross my mind about making a career change and I latched on so hard to that thought, and began to freak out. Why did I freak out, because this was the career I had feared I would have for a lot of my life.
The funny thing is 10 years earlier, I had been told by Heavenly Father that this path I feared was NOT my path in life.
It’s funny how often we forget, and in this moment I really forgot about that previous answer and I began to freak out and didn’t just casually walk down this rabbit hole, I dove in head first, and the more I thought about it the more I freaked out. I don’t know if you have had this experience before, but it is not one that I would wish upon anyone. By the time I left the temple I was in an all-out tail spin. I was no longer thinking clearly, that’s what happens when we freak out. Most often times if we just let our thinking settle, after a while we can see clearly again. But I was not thinking clearly. I had gotten this idea so stuck in my head that I was supposed to change careers that my clear water thinking had become dark, black and murky.
My thoughts began to overwhelm me like I whale swallows up a tiny boat. For the next three months I struggled to sleep. I struggled with constant thoughts of anxiety and even had some panic experiences. This led to many many many sleepless nights when I had to even take sleeping pills just to get a little bit of sleep. For me this was a very challenging time of life, I actually did start down the other career path, however, the more I took it the more that it didn’t feel right. It was almost like I knew that it wasn’t where I was supposed to be, however, I had gotten it in my head somehow that this other career was where Heavenly Father wanted me. And I desiring to do what I thought was his will, went. It wasn’t until after 3 months of this one day that I was under heavy medication from a surgery a few days before, that Heavenly Father was able to get through to me. In my weekend condition he was able to show me a stop sign and tell me very kindly to come back to the path that I was on before, that of coaching. I stopped going down the other path and returned to coaching. However, it still took quite a while to not think about the other path, and even now sometimes I still have thoughts pop up in my head related to that other career. I had driven it so far in my head that the other path was what Heavenly Father wanted for me only to realize that wasn’t the case at all when that wasn’t the case at all.
Maybe I’ll never know whether I was lead down that path for a brief few months to realize for certain that it wasn’t
My path. Jeffrey R. Holland tells a wonderful experience about how when he was driving with his son that they came to a fork in the road. They prayed about which path to take to get back home and felt they should take the path to the right. They took the path to the right and about 600 yards later, came to a dead end. They turned around and took the other path and clearly the left path was the correct one and it lead them back towards home. He said he pondered on that experience of why Heavenly Father would lead him in the wrong direction, he came to the conclusion that, “In this case, Heavenly Father’s desire was to get them on the right road as quickly as possible with some reassurance, and the easiest way to do that was to let them go 600 yards on the wrong road and very quickly know without a doubt that it was the wrong road and then to know without a doubt with equal certainty, with equal conviction that the other one was the right road.”
If you want to watch the 4 minute video of the above quote, here is a link Wrong Roads
I like to think that my experience was similar, whether I was lead to take the path in the beginning or not, Heavenly Father allowed me to take the course so that I would know with absolute certainty that it was not the course for me, and more importantly to let me know that HE was okay with me not taking that course. He blessed me with so many wonderful experiences during that time, ironically one day I happened to be sitting at a table with a young man that really did want that other career but he was afraid that he was good enough to get selected. I was able for a few moments to coach him and help him see that he was incredibley qualified and had an excellent shot at getting that career. Even on the detours of our lives, Heavenly Father has countless people for us to help and serve. We don’t have to be perfect to influence other people’s lives.
While this was an incredibly hard experience for me, I’m grateful for it. I knew then with certainty from Heavenly Father that he was very happy with the career path I had already chosen and I also developed an empathy for people going through similar experiences. I now know what it is like to have sleepless nights, and still have to try to get through a full day being exhausted. I know what it is like to experience panic, I know what it is like to have constant anxious thinking.
We all will experience going down some wrong roads in our lives, but just remember those are part of your journey and they will provide you with experiences as well. Don’t be too hard on yourself, just do the best that you can! You don’t have to answer this in the comments, but maybe just for yourself.
What are some wrong roads that you have taken? What are some amazing things that have come out of them?
All roads lead to Rome, and as you listen to your inner voice all the roads that you take will eventually lead you to where you desire to go.
Just Start now, because it’s always better late than never! When you start, you make the impossible, possible!
-The “It’s Possible” Guy
Joseph
Remember You’re okay, start doing what’s possible in Your life and you will create miracles!
P.S. If this article has blessed your life, please share it! It may be just what someone else needs to hear, and they will thank you for it!