I often analogize my spiritual and personal development to swimming, an activity in which the improvement of technique is a life-long endeavor.  During the process of changing habitually incorrect strokes, my speed slows.  My body won’t follow my directives.  It continues to do what it has always done.  The coach will say, “you’re still windmilling” when I think I am gliding as instructed.

When I first begin to modify my way of swimming, it feels as though I am pulling through mud.  I quickly tire.  Unused muscles begin to hurt.  It’s not fun.  But I persist.  Consistency is key.  When I miss days of swimming, I don’t resume right where I left off.  I fall back to my previous set point.  The same thing that it takes to get to a goal is what you have to continue to maintain it.

I accept this fact with most endeavors.  I know that I must eat less and exercise more to lose weight and to maintain that loss.  To learn new skills, I have to study and repeatedly perform necessary functions and procedures until they become natural to me.  Yet, with life, I want change tomorrow.  I want perfection without practice.  I don’t want aches, pains, or setbacks.  I want spiritual muscles without having to do any strengthening exercises.

Many times I want someone to make things better, to make it all go away, and to tell me what to do and when to do it.  I want things to be ok right now without my having to do anything.  Where is my fairy godmother, my genie in the bottle?  Where is God?

The other day, I saw this boy on a little bicycle with training wheels.  His legs were long enough to keep him from falling.  He didn’t even need brakes.  All he had to do was put his feet down and he could stand.  Yet, he rode with assistance.  His helicopter mom closely followed him.

As I walked and watched the boy and his mom, the song “I’m Coming Out of My Comfort Zone” played on my iPod.  I thought, “This is where I am right now.  My life experiences are causing me to figure out how to remove my own clouds and my own negativity.  Giving that power to someone else is like having a helicopter mom.  It’s like using training wheels long past the time that they are necessary.

If I don’t learn to resolve my own challenges, I won’t be able to find a way out of my own pit.  Yes, my life will be easier if someone always removes the obstacles, but I won’t be strengthened.  I won’t learn to create if I continue to be enabled by external entities.

I am it.  I am capable.  I am able to recognize the reality of me that does not exist in duality.  My whole has different textures. The purpose of darkness in my life is to demonstrate joy.  It’s all joy.  It is all part of the tapestry of my life.  Removing the contours of my life affects its depth and richness.  I should be the one changing my life’s design, not someone else.

I am the creator of my tapestry, my landscape, my pottery, my existence, and my destiny. Persistent removal of difficulties by someone other than me may delay my journey to the best of me.  My challenges are making me the person that I want to become.  I am challenged by the obstacles in my path that are, in fact, strengthening tools.

I state my intention to turn poisonous arrows into flowers.  Are my annoying and troubling circumstances obstacles or games that I must learn to play in order to manifest my intent?  If the poisonous arrows are removed for me, will I ever learn to turn them into flowers?

I’m not saying that I don’t need help.  An energy therapist helped me to identify what was blocking me.  He guided me, but I cleared out my own energy.  Productive help enables.  Harmful help disables.

Years ago, I was a healing junkie.  I loved having other people heal me. I believe that using those training wheels helped.  Ultimately, I learned that I can access the Source directly, without a filter.  It’s harder for quite a while; but, that bike goes really fast once you get the hang of it.