{"id":672,"date":"2015-10-09T06:50:05","date_gmt":"2015-10-09T10:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=672"},"modified":"2015-10-09T01:28:08","modified_gmt":"2015-10-09T05:28:08","slug":"week-56-looking-for-signs-which-do-you-see-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=672","title":{"rendered":"Week #56 – Looking for Signs (Which do you see first?)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\""Which<\/a>

“Which do you see first?” (photo credit: Grace Church)<\/p><\/div>\n

Week #56 – Looking for Signs (Which do you see first?)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I took this photo last week on a beachy road in Santa Barbara. \u00a0It was a profound moment.<\/p>\n

Which sign do you see first?<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I wrote last week, my trip to LA started off a little rough. \u00a0There were times when I wished I could go back home, back to my routine, back to where I knew what to do, when to do it, and how to make people happy.<\/p>\n

I’ve been there before…caught in the cul de sac of doing what others want, what they need, what they approve and like you for (because the people who love you, will love you anyway!).<\/p>\n

And you know what? \u00a0It wasn’t a cul de sac.<\/p>\n

It was a dead end. \u00a0And I knew it all along.<\/b><\/p>\n

But it was my own fault…because I never looked for an alternate route! \u00a0I thought the dead-end meant turning around and going BACKWARD. \u00a0Starting again. \u00a0It took me years — and more recently again, the loss of my brother — to realize that LIFE was calling me to move forward. \u00a0To take some risks. \u00a0To get out of the safety of my “vehicle” and find another way!<\/p>\n

The Crossing!<\/b><\/p>\n

Do you see it? \u00a0Do you see the Crossing sign indicating another route?\u00a0 Moving forward just requires a different vision. \u00a0Maybe a different set of tools. \u00a0One step forward…then another. \u00a0Cautious…of course! \u00a0The sign itself indicates some danger…but it still beacons: there is another side. \u00a0Another way. \u00a0Another world to explore…if you just do two things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Accept that, in one sense, it is a dead-end.<\/strong>\u00a0 Plowing forward, business-as-usual,\u00a0would\u00a0result in an obvious disaster. \u00a0And the harm would only come to you. \u00a0The dead-endedness of the road will remain ever the same. \u00a0Identify it. \u00a0Accept it. \u00a0And then…<\/li>\n
  2. Open your eyes. \u00a0<\/strong>You don’t have to\u00a0abandon your destination…just find another way! \u00a0You may have to leave the comfort and safety of your vehicle. \u00a0You may have to proceed with some caution. \u00a0It may take some time, some courage, and even a few attempts that fail…but you are not shut out. \u00a0There is another way. \u00a0FIND IT!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This week’s challenge: Dead End or Crossing?! \u00a0<\/strong>As you move through your week,\u00a0play a little game with yourself (or your friends who may need it). \u00a0When facing a challenging situation — ask yourself if it’s a dead-end or a crossing? \u00a0If it’s a dead-end — if it’s truly going nowhere — ask yourself if it’s time to turn around and find another road to travel. \u00a0If it’s a crossing — if there’s something on the other side that’s worth exploring\u00a0— ask yourself where it’s going, what you’re truly after, and what you need to do to take those first courageous steps.<\/p>\n

    Bonus challenge: THEN DO IT!<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Spread Happyness — share your thoughts, support others, and look for signs this week!<\/strong><\/p>\n

    10\/9\/15 by Grace Church
    \n<\/em>\u00a9 Grace Church<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Week #56 – Looking for Signs (Which do you see first?) I took this photo last week on a beachy road in Santa Barbara. \u00a0It was a profound moment. Which sign do you see first? As I wrote last week, my trip to LA started off a little rough. \u00a0There were times when I wished […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=672"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":675,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions\/675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}