A sage once said “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” In simpler times when survival was a challenge, the message was straightforward enough; one simply had to choose between financial success and spiritual access.
But now we enjoy a level of prosperity and leisure that makes the financial/spiritual split an unnecessary burden. All we need to do is translate the message and learn how to thread the needle!
When we can have fulfilling work that expresses our life purpose and makes a difference, the otherworldly heaven becomes “heaven on earth.”
The camel? That’s nothing more than our entrenched ego, full of bulky patterns to keep us safe from any perceived dangers including disapproval by our tribe.
The eye of the needle? That is the doorway to our most purposeful path. Once we find the way and walk through, everything changes on the other side.
“Just do it” and brute force effort don’t work to thread a needle. Nor does it work for any act that involves your soul, like falling in love or pursuing your purpose. You must delicately explore the paths available and learn how to align all of you with the direction your heart wants to take you. Then life can move through you rather than you trying to make life happen.
As Peter Drucker said, “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
There are several steps to threading the needle to enter heaven on earth:
- Reassess the push of productivity and find out what’s actually needed.
- Negotiate with the parts of you that resist pursuit of your purpose, and see what they need in order to align.
- Listen to your inner guidance, which knows the precise way to your most fulfilling path.
- Set your sights on a goal that takes you closer to fulfilling that path.
- Prepare to meet the challenges you see on the way.
- Take a breath and dive through!
I’m reminded of a beautiful red sand cove in Maui that is protected by a wall of lava. For years I simply stayed safe exploring the gorgeous luminous fish that populated the cove. Then one year I decided I was going to brave swimming through a small gap to get outside of the cove.
It was a tricky passage, with huge waves constantly forcing their way through the narrow inlet.
Once I decided to brave my fears and make the passage out, I spent an hour watching the rhythm and behavior of the waves crashing on and through the lava. If I did it wrong I could get seriously injured.
And then it was time – I swam up to the gap, watched, matched my rhythm and breathing to the waves, and then I dove down under the froth and out on through.
When I came up for air on the other side it was a whole new world, breaktakingly big and beautiful. Suddenly other challenges I was facing didn’t seem so insurmountable any more.
Have you noticed that life has ways of presenting narrow passageways that force us to adapt? If you’re a change agent you’ve doubtless faced this situation many times.
What narrow eye of the needle is in front of you right now, and how will you guide the thread?
