Feather, Brick or Truck

'Why does this keeps happening to me?'

Ever heard anyone say that? Have you ever said it?

Do you sometimes find that life has this way of repeating itself, the situations you find yourself in, the conversations you have? Do you sometimes find that there are certain people that rub you the wrong way or who you just feel completely frustrated by and they just keep showing up in your life?

Yeah, life is funny like that. I used to wonder why the same issues would arise in different parts of life. Just when I had thought I had things all figured out, it would show up again! 

And then I learned something....sometimes in life, a situation will keep repeating itself until you really learn the lesson you are supposed to learn. Those same people keep showing up until we learn what we are supposed to learn from them, the same situations appear until we learn the lesson of how to approach things differently or think differently.

The problem most of us have in life is we don't pay enough attention to what is happening around us. We don't take enough notice of the things that we are supposed to learn until we are in pain. It is often when we are in enough pain, that we decide to make some changes but we can make it so much easier for ourselves by sitting up, listening and paying attention.

A few years ago, when I questioned why I was experiencing the same painful situations in my life, I was introduced to a metaphor about Feather, Brick, Truck.

 Change

People usually make a change in their life in one of two ways: either the Universe knocks them on the head with a very painful experience or they change through conscious awareness. Either way, change is inevitable. However one is less painful than the other! When it comes to change and growth, it can be painful. But nothing is more painful than being stuck where you don't belong in life.

 Feather

The feather is a gentle nudge or a push in a particular direction. It is encouraging you to sit up, pay attention, listen carefully to what is happening around you in your life. It could come in the form of a couple of different people giving you the same information, or suggesting a book to read or hearing the same thing in different ways and from different sources. It could be a niggle in your body that you know is there but have ignored thinking it is nothing to really take notice of.  The feather is a gentle incident, event or reminder where you realise or know you must do something, but you don’t. When life hits you with a feather, you may feel a little itch but you brush it off, make no changes, and move on.

 Brick

If we don’t pay any attention to the message of the feather, a brick comes along. This is a stronger warning that something isn’t right in your life and that you need to make a change or some changes. A brick is usually uncomfortable. The brick is a not so subtle reminder of the lesson the feather was there to teach us. It could be unexpected changes in the workplace, an increase in pain in the body where the niggle used to be, a reoccurring health issue, ongoing painful relationship moments. When life hits you with a brick it hurts. If you get the message, you make some changes for the better and life goes on in a new direction. Unfortunately, most people don’t pay attention to the brick either.

 Truck

If you still haven’t figured it out, then you get the truck. The problem with ignoring the brick is that the universe still recognises that you need to change! The truck is about a massive shift to life as we know it. An example of the truck might be a loss – loss of your job completely, loss of a relationship, loss of a loved one. It could also be a major health issue. All of a sudden we’re forced to make massive changes to our life. A truck will usually result in most people looking for something different and a change in life.

So if we are better tuned into the feathers and bricks, we can avoid a lot of the trucks. Next time you are hit by a truck or if you have just been hit by a truck then it is important to ask yourself a couple of questions: “What is the good in this?” and “What lessons can I learn from this?”

 History Repeats 

In life, history repeats itself until we learn the lesson we need to change our path. This is why the universe sends us little reminders. Our part is to learn the lessons early...but we know that is not how it always happens! But we can either continue allowing history to repeat and suffer the life of staying exactly the same or suffer the pain of change and learn our greatest lessons on our way to an even better life.

  Conscious Living 

The only way to avoid the truck is to live a more conscious life. Unfortunately, most people are living unconsciously. We use technology or food or other elements to avoid dealing with issues or facing the changes we know we need to make. To become more consciously aware, we need to decide that there must be a better way in life. It is in moments of decision that our life is transformed (Tony Robbins). We have to decide that we don't want to look back anymore and so we focus on being a better version of ourselves. But this is hard to do if you make a decision and take no action.

 Personal Development

The only way to change your awareness is to work harder on yourself than anything else. Work harder on yourself than your business, your job, your relationship. Your responsibility is to become the best version of yourself that you possibly can and everything else will shift and change around you. Part of this is reading books, finding a mentor, finding people with similar values and dreams. Be patient with yourself, but over time, as you listen and learn and apply, you and your life will transform into something even more beautiful.

 Mistakes and Failure

The journey of change is never easy. This is why the universe sends us messages along the way because even when we think we are paying attention, we can miss things! Don't be too hard on yourself. Mistakes have the power to turn you into something better than you were before. Allow the mistakes you make along the way be your teacher. It is a lesson, not a loss or a setback. It is only temporary. Our missed messages or simply a slight detour on the path and not a dead end. Be patient. You are always learning and growing. True failure is only when we fall and make the mistakes but we don't learn the lesson.

 My Journey

I share this with you today because this has been a big part of my journey. I ignored the feather and the brick for years and got the truck several times and in different ways before I realised how much pain I was actually living in. I am far from perfect and since beginning my personal development journey a few years ago, I have still had the occasional truck in different areas of my life! But I am getting better at paying attention and listening to what is happening and learning to change the direction of my life or learn the lesson before I end up in too much pain again.

I just woke up one day and decided I didn't want to feel that way anymore and so I changed. Just like that. The journey is not always smooth or easy. I get lots of feathers, the occasional brick and sometimes I get the truck! But that is life. It is risky and messy and beautiful all at the same time. But the risk of doing nothing at all is far greater than anything else.

I share this post today in the hope that it supports you in learning to recognise your feathers a little better. Pay attention. Listen closely to what people are saying and what is happening around you. You might be surprised by the messages you have been missing!

 Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change

Jim Rohn.

Until next week....have a beautiful week!

With love, 

Clarissa xo