The Art of the Soft Pivot
“The road was turning; I wanted to keep going straight.”
At some point the winds of change begin to blow to the point where nothing in life seems to work. At wit’s end you try to keep it together but your enthusiasm wanes and is replaced by frustration, anxiety, stress, confusion, and depression.
Many of us experience this ennui at some point. Only in hindsight do we realize that these discomfiting sensations were signals from the Universe foretelling a directional shift—the heralding of a “pivot.” This is Nature’s way of steering you so you can grow and evolve. Further down the road we can easily connect the dots of our journey and see the pivot points. But how do we soften the turn?
As we transition through life’s various phases we can experience hard or soft pivots. Hard pivots manifest as crises—financial crackups, drastic career shifts, health problems, relationship blowups, or accidents. These are painful, forceful, and abrupt, and bring on our resistance as we struggle to maintain the status quo. Soft pivots are natural segues of expansive growth—gentle, graceful, and natural. We knowingly and eagerly lean into them.
If you sense you’re in the midst of a life passage, how do you navigate differently this time? When do you lean into the change, or fight it? What will it take to move you?
To quote Rumi, “Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes around in another form.”
As the Universe turns you in a new direction know that you will re-turn to where you once were, but in a more enlightened and evolved form. You can expect to land with increased power, wisdom, and resources. This is the spherical nature of evolutionary growth—the hero’s journey. You return from whence you came, yet different and evolved thanks to the arc of the journey.
As humans we are gifted with three powerful intelligence centers: our mental intelligence (EgoMind-IQ), our emotional intelligence (Gut-EQ), and our intuitive intelligence (Heart-InQ). When all three are harmonized and utilized correctly we are able to flow effortlessly with the Universe. If you sense a mounting intensity coming from all three intelligence centers this indicates the onset of a pivotal transition. At the point of greatest intensity, you will turn, willingly or unwillingly—the Universe will prevail. This is where cognitive awareness plays a part. Hard or soft pivot?
To pivot gracefully consider A2RE:
ACCEPT: Accept where you are now—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Don’t try to deny or suppress your emotional discomfort. Stay present without fleeing into the future or past. Accept clearly your current situation without fear-driven judgments on your emotions, thoughts, or actions. Try to be compassionately neutral and simply observe yourself moving.
This mental snapshot of your current state of circumstances puts you in the position of being at the right place for pivoting.
ALLOW: Allow the energetic process of turning to continue. By non-judgmentally accepting your situation you allow the Universe to pivot you with measurable ease and fluidity (soft pivot), instead of by force or crisis (hard pivot).
Your not getting in your own way allows the pivoting action to transpire uninterrupted.
RELEASE: Release any resistance to the changes in your life as they appear. Because you are being turned some of these changes may not make any sense, or may appear unrelated to your current activity. Be alert to anomalies appearing seemingly randomly in your life. They are signs of change and hints of what is emerging from the new direction. Mentally release any set expectations or need for guaranteed outcomes. Give your mind a rest from problem-solving and the need to self-protect from the unknown. Turning is an activity of co-creation between you and the Universe. To problem solve is to create resistance and friction and this will stall the turn. To self-protect from what is a natural energetic occurrence will dim your energetic flow and possibly prolong the agonizing limbo. Let external activities and communications lessen or cease as you enter into a stage of introspection and self-reflection. Try insulating yourself from the outer world.
This is the crystallization stage of the caterpillar becoming a butterfly.
EMBRACE: Embrace what is coming toward you, even if you don’t understand. The silver lining in the cloud will reveal itself only after the storm has passed. The pot of gold is always at the end of the rainbow. Remember that the evolutionary Universe has a higher viewpoint of your life than you envision. Your partially blinded lower view may prevent you from making sense of change as it occurs.
Repose in the knowledge that illumination comes only after the turn.
When the understanding of what has happened floods your being, this is a cue that the lower frequencies of fear and its many emotional derivatives have dissipated. In their place is illumination and awareness. Lifted back into the higher frequencies of love, you A2 RE able to move through life once more with your co-creator, the Universe, as it continually turns you toward your True North—optimal growth and potential.
Abigail Diaz Juan is a Bay Area entrepreneur, venture capitalist, teacher, and founder of the Diamond Quest Company. Her book, How Me Found I: Mastering the Art of Pivoting Gracefully Through Life, presents a revolutionary scientific approach to re-discovering our inherent humanity and our own power within. MyDiamondQuest.net