On a hike in the Southern San Juan Mountains a circle called to me. It wanted to be made on the topic of courage. I was on a steep slope, making my own switchbacks so as not to slip and fall. I was moving slowly downward after the accomplishment of having hiked up that same slope with a reward of lunch and a beautiful view.

Back home, making the circle, it was drawn as the lower right image. That’s what started as “right side up.” As I meditated with this soul circle, I felt the urge to turn it on it’s head (upper left). That’s when it’s message became clear.

Courage requires us to view a problem from every angle.

The way I had drawn it, it felt like that speeding snail-eye would be traveling a half-circle in an endless, hamster wheel loop. The momentum would carry it forward again and again, just to arrive back at the same place.

When I flipped it over, what had seemed like confinement, now felt more like a porous, yet protective shell, bubble, space which would roll along with the snail, providing traction. Like an nonthreatening tank, slow and steady, going where others might not be able to. Or one of those human hamster balls that allows us to walk on water.

Courage often requires us to look at situations from different angles in order to take the next step. Like the four options above, a couple of those feel precarious, unwise. Yes, the best option may be uphill but once you get to a certain elevation, the path will level out and pick up speed, (lower left).

We don’t have to tackle problems in the way they first appear, in fact, if we do that, those problems will likely persist. We can ‘circle’ each difficulty until we see a useful perspective, the exact expansion of awareness which that problem came to show us. When we reach the top of the ridge, where the uphill problem is behind us, we get to use natural laws to move us forward from there with very little effort.

In my experience there is an added bonus:  I can feel grateful for the problem, privileged that it chose me. And, to take it a step further, I can give the problem a gift — the opportunity to fulfill its purpose, its reason for existing.

Who doesn’t want that?

Scott is an expert at saying just the right combination of words to turn a problem on its head.
Contact him here.

This Soul Circle may be for all of us but if you are in a place that requires courage, you might want to have this one (or one made especially for you) go to work on your specific issue. Contact me here.