Along the way

“Knowing when to wait is as integral to the dream as knowing when to act,” Tessa Bielecki writes in her book on Teresa of Avila (Crossroad, 1994).

I was struck with that line this morning as I am moving into unknown terrain as I try to move in a new direction with my livelihood. I am trying to make a change and vary the way I make my income, following what I feel called to be doing. I have the foundation of my part-time job as a school librarian, but I don’t yet know how the rest will manifest.

I face fear; I face doubt; I face uncertainty. But I am choosing to trust, beyond myself, that there is a path, still undefined at this point, I am meant to walk. So when I was reading about Teresa of Avila from the 16th century and the extraordinary things she accomplished in her life in the face of obstacles, such as a new Carmelite order, I became encouraged to face the unknown and just take one step at a time.

How do we ever know if we are doing the right thing? We don’t. We try. We observe the fruits of our actions and we look honestly at what is working and not working in our lives. Sometimes, we need to find another path, and sometimes we just need to wait patiently and take internal actions with our attitude, our self talk, and our need to have trust deep inside for what we can’t yet know.