In the past few months I invited readers to send in your questions to this column. Craig from Iowa writes, "It is now 3:00 am and I have just finished reading The Celestine Prophecy. I could not sleep and went to the website looking for help with the 6th Insight [about clearing our past and understanding how we are trying to solve the life questions our parents gave us]."

"Fourteen months ago, I left my job of thirty-one years. I had worked my way up from being an entry level supply clerk to managing thirty-five employees in several different departments with a four million-dollar budget. I had no other job to go to and no plans. I still have no idea what I will do next. Until last month when my insurance ran out, I was being treated for anxiety disorders (which I fear may be keeping me from finding a new job.) On my last visit to the clinic, the psychologist suggested I read The Celestine Prophecy. I thought you would like to hear from someone who is right smack dab in the middle of changing directions.

"I don`t know what I'm going to do next. The anxiety and stress over not having a job, running out of money, etc. has pretty much consumed me. The book helped me a lot, but I think I have a long way to go."

I chose Craig's question because I think his situation reflects what a lot of us are feeling during this period. Once we let fear dominate our thoughts we start a cascading syndrome where we start envisioning the worst everywhere in our lives. No wonder we are anxious! So Craig, let me make a few comments based on the remarks in your email ...

QUITTING YOUR JOB

It sounds as if you chose to quit your job for a good reason. If your anxiety disorders were happening during the last job, then it sounds like your move to change something in your life was a good one.

FOCUS ON YOUR STRENGTHS

You have an excellent ability (and track record) for starting over. You went from an entry level job to a very high and responsible position. You have the ability to stay with something for a long time (your thirty-five years on the job). Now you are in the second half of your life. You have the opportunity to take that same set of skills and even more importantly, maturity, into another challenge. This time, you may want to consider creating a small business out of your home-something which gives you more control over your life. Look to your most basic, life-long, innate interests and talents. What are you good at? What do you love to do? You've probably been thinking a lot about this, but maybe the anxiety disorder keeps telling you something, like "Yes, but….I can't do that because…." People who are thinkers often make the mistake of trying to think everything through to a perfect plan before ever testing out their ideas.

CONFRONT THE FEARS

Write down all the fears that come up in the middle of the night. Look the anxiety in the eye. Look at the worst thing that could happen and imagine how you would actually handle it. Our greatest fear is that we are going to be given something we cannot handle. A powerful affirmation statement is, "No matter what happens I'll handle it." You already have done this!

INTUITIVE ANSWERS ARE COMING

Also, we don't always trust that quiet, small voice that offers a new suggestion. Many times I have spent an hour in a consultation with someone who has told me emphatically how confused they are and that they don't know what to do. However, at just about the end of the hour, they casually mention something they have really been considering but haven't yet brought to our conversation! Many of us don't trust our intuition and dismiss what could be a very good idea! We focus so much on our doom and gloom that we get paralyzed. So Craig (and the rest of you readers), what kinds of persistent creative work ideas have you been having?

PUT A POSITIVE SPIN ON YOU AND YOUR SITUATION

Working around fear is sometimes a minute-by-minute discipline! We have to go back to what we know works, such as keeping an open mind about what tomorrow will bring and affirming that good people are even now coming into our lives to help us open doors.

To shift to a higher vibration reframe a negative into an open-ended positive. For example, instead of talking about yourself as unemployed, try telling people that you are currently available for employment!

LISTEN TO INTUITION

When we need an answer, we usually get a response through a direct thought coming to us or from a message given by another person. Instead of steeping your thinking in worry thoughts, get in the habit of noticing when the fear pattern sets in and switching gears. As tempting as it is to scare yourself with thoughts about money, (some of us are very motivated when we're frightened!) let it go. Keep busy with something that gives you a feeling of accomplishment. Go outside and take a walk. Offer to wash your neighbor's car. You want to break that worry cycle as often as you can because it's not a productive habit. Believe it or not, you'll be creating possibilities for yourself when you silently ask something like, "Today I ask for Universal support in paving the way for a steady stream of abundance and joyful livelihood."

FOLLOWING THROUGH ON SUGGESTIONS BRINGS NEW LEARNING

I want to acknowledge your following through on your doctor's suggestion to read The Celestine Prophecy. Taking action that opens us to new learning is how our next opportunities show up for us. Someone mentions something, which takes us to the next doorway. Who knows what is beyond that door? There is a higher purpose in your coming into contact with the information in the book at this time in your life.

GIVE YOUR TIME TO SOMEONE WHO NEEDS A HAND

Try to find a way to do some service in your community. Keep busy and involved to keep your spirits up. Giving time to others rewards you far more than you may realize. Again follow your instincts and you may just put yourself in the way of a possible job somewhere that you never would have considered otherwise.

FIND A GROUP FOR JOB-SEEKERS

Many communities have on-going groups for people looking for work, and it's a good way to help structure your time in a positive way.

TAKE A PART-TIME JOB

Look around for a short-term job in a coffee-house or bartending for a catering company as a way to make a little money, have fun, and keep your day flowing. I remember Anne's story (When Life Changes, Or You Wish It Would, p. 42.) In her fifties, she was fed up with her career and quit a very good position. She bought a van, packed up her most important belongings, and traveled around the country for two years. She followed her intuition about where to go, found part time jobs everywhere (fun ones with accommodations in national parks), supported herself, and had an exciting adventure exploring anything that caught her attention.

LEARN SOMETHING NEW

So many times when we have a demanding job, we wish we had time to develop an interest or skill. Needless, to say Craig, you are in the perfect position to do something you have always wanted to do. There usually are adult education classes available that are low-cost and surprisingly varied in what they offer by extremely good teachers. Or teach one yourself! You are on the brink of a whole new life, even though you just can't see the big picture yet.

I'd love to have other questions from readers for next month's column!

Happy June,
Carol Adrienne