It makes sense that when you release your mental graspings of what you think you want, you open yourself up to embrace what's coming to you. To mentally grasp something is to hold onto it, as if with our hands. So we "let go" of concepts to free up those hands (or, rather, our mental space and our desires). I mention this because in the next few paragraphs you talk about how you were going to school to be a chiropractor. This brings to mind Chiron, the Wounded Healer. In mythology, Chiron was said to have taught Asclepius. The Rod of Asclepius is similar to the famous Caduceus (Staff of Hermes) that we see decorating medical facilities. You may, of course, be familiar with its deeper meaning representing the spinal column and the twin solar and lunar currents (electro-magnetic) ascending from the base of the spine (kundalini).

Chiron (Kheirôn) actually means "skilled with hands", because cheiro-/kheiro- means hand. So here again we have a reference to the healing usefulness of human hands, the mind, and the spine. It definitely sounds like you were being initiated for your next stage of development...But you had to purge and let go of the exhausting path you thought you were supposed to be following. Sounds like your rude awakening was a higher calling. The rude awakening came in a flash of brilliance! Eureka!

As I am reading your article, I am seeing the archetypal Fool's (Hero's) journey unfold in your story. Brave are those that heed the Clarion Call and have the courage to follow their heart regardless of what external circumstances may appear to be. "Rude Awakening" (The Tower). "Realization" (Judgement).

Beautiful. You persevered through the ordeal and look at the rewards you have reaped for allowing intuition to guide you!

Slow Down to Speed Up = yes! Whenever we relax into things, taking it as it comes, we find ourselves fully recharged and reinspired. We can't be working or strenuously doing all of the time. Just like our body needs sleep in order to be awake, our minds need to be decluttered before we can properly concentrate. It's like a rubber band. If that band is constantly stretched tighter and tighter, it'll snap and be useless. But if that band is given a chance to go slack, it bounces right back with renewed zest.

Wonderful metaphors and great advice. Especially the Mario example. Face it to disSOLVE it. "They" always say "never look back at the ghosts of the past", but if you don't reflect on your foundations, how will you ever integrate the wisdom?

Self-love, very true! We can't separate the events or the interations of our lives FROM ourselves. We're never going to receive the love we desire from others unless we give it to ourselves first. And once that happens, it's just as you said: You no longer need it from others, but you still stay open to receive and enjoy it as it comes.

The Wheel of Fortune has two extremes: Poverty (Karma) and Wealth (Dharma). And The Chariot (Receptivity-Will) can turn our Rags-to-Riches. It sounds like your success is due, in part, to that receptivity you spoke about and your willingness to act on those impulses, even though they may have seemed counter-intuitive at the time. They've proven to be exactly the opposite.

"The painful irony for doctors is that we often have to make you sicker in order to heal you. If a bone is healed unevenly, we have to re-break it. If a scar is too thick, we have to scrape it off and create a new wound. We break you down to re-build you. We go to medical school because we wan tto learn how to fix what's broken. But we quickly earn that we often have to make things worse before we can make them better." - Meredith Grey, Grey's Anatomy

I once lived with an open wound that was the same size as the bowling ball sized tumor that had been removed. It was full of necrotic tissue and took 9 long, torturous months to heal. Three times a week they had to rip out the sponges from my wound vacuum, remove dead tissue, and then scrape the surface of that tissue to try to stimulate new growth. But had I not gone through that, I might never have gained the motivation to go from weighing nearly 400 pounds to being where I'm at today: In my 130s-140s and cancer-free. I had to experience the worst pain, both externally and internally, before shifting my values so that I could experience the very best. Before my inner wounds from childhood trauma could be healed, I had to experience and overcome its external projection.

I really enjoy reading your articles. They provoke inspiration. If you have any more recommendations on other articles of yours I might enjoy, I'd love to read it!