It’s easy to live life when we have clarity of thought. Even if things don’t play out the way we expect, at least we know what we want to do. Our actions are never held back for want of decisions. But sometimes we find ourselves at a crossroad. Having to make big decisions, clarity eludes us. We find ourselves evaluating options, looking at the situation time and again and yet, we are unable to decide.

This feeling can really be a load on our mind. We realise we need to make a decision, one way or another, but the consequences are so significant, we sometimes fail to clearly see the way ahead. It could be investing in a new venture, shutting down an existing business, changing careers in life, accepting a position of responsibility, compromising principles under pressure, walking away from a bad relationship or deciding to stay in a relationship in spite of challenges. It’s not always clear to us what we should do.

Most times it is fear and ego that holds us back. Fear of the ‘what-if’. The bigger the decision, bigger the consequences, bigger our fear. And sometimes our ego comes in the way. Our self-image becomes so important that we fail to look at things objectively. We forget, taking a step back is not defeat. It is just a preparation for the next move in life. Our mind feels like a ship in the midst of heavy fog.

When the captain of the ship cannot see much ahead, he relies on three things – the compass, radar and his intuition.

Our compass is our intellect.  In rises above the clouds of mixed feelings and even though we cannot see the full picture, it charts the direction for us.

Our radar is our heightened awareness. When we are vigilant about things around us, reading and listening deeply, we start picking up signals that point us in a direction.

Our intuition is our inner voice. In our time of silence, it guides us from within, even when all outer sounds may be saying something else.

Crossroads and confusions will be part of life. A good captain trains and prepares himself to be able to steer through tough conditions. When we understand and learn to trust the power of our inner navigation tools, we will find the confidence to make decisions and steer our life through the fog of confusion.

(Picture – Winter morning in Asia Plateau, Panchgani. Asia Plateau is one of the international centres of Initiatives of Change – IofC)