The old saying “It’s darkest before the dawn” captures a profound truth about life. As we move toward our more fulfilling life and deeper spiritual awareness, there are moments along the way were things seem really dark in our heart, mind, or circumstances. Sometimes these moments are tipping points for our growth when we realize something simply can’t go on the way it is. At other times, things seem really hard because we are holding on to the very thing that we actually need to let go of – whether it’s a belief, a habit, a person, or a situation. Sometimes we get caught in our own resistance, so the juxtaposition between what we want and what is going on seems to be impossibly far apart. And finally, it can seem like everything is actually being taken away right as we are really working to claim something new.
Each one of these moments is a breakdown which comes before the breakthrough. This is the moment when the old – old habit, beliefs, ideas, activities, and ways we engage with life – no longer work because things are moving in a new direction, but we are still in the old model. If we don’t go willingly, the tension forces the breakdown. The old must die for the new to emerge.
When we realize that we are in a breakdown moment, we can take that as reassurance that we are absolutely on the way to our breakthrough. It doesn’t mean it isn’t working – it actually means that it is. This is true in our lives, in our relationships, and in the collective reality of our nation and world. Breakdown before breakthrough. Never lose hope.