I had it all wrong. Completely backward.

For years, I’ve been using a river analogy, claiming that I’d once been passively floating in water that took me in the wrong direction. Not until I discovered the existence of ores did things start to change.

Today, while chatting with a local jeweler named Nazir, I discovered the error of my ways.

It’s not that the river was taking me in the wrong direction. It’s that my mindset was taking me in the wrong direction. I’d let other people’s well-intentioned suggestions for my life and career guide me with blind trust. When I discovered the ores, I started rowing in the direction I wanted to go, but it’s been a constant struggle to get on course.

What I heard today, following the statement, “Let me tell you my story,” was that the Universe has a plan for each of us, and we need to follow that plan with ease. No resistance. When we fight our gifts and talents, when we choose a profession that doesn’t speak to our souls, we live in a state of dis-ease. We live stressed.

He’d been there. He spoke from experience.

This jeweler, with the eyes of a sage and the soul of a mystic, spoke exactly what I needed to hear – and entirely without prompting. I hadn’t mentioned one thing about the internal struggles I’ve been dealing with, nor had I posed a single question. It was simply offered – as though on the very wind of which he spoke.

In the few hours since our interaction, I’ve been thinking. About ores, and water, and wind. About how my life became hectic and forced from the moment I picked up those damned ores, and how I’m tired of fighting the current. I know, intuitively (as most of us do), what I should be doing, and I haven’t trusted the truest form of guidance to get me there. That’s about to change.

What can I share of my own wisdom? When someone, unprompted, says, “Let me tell you my story,” listen. Live for these connections. Relish in their meaning and depth. Breathe deep and let the wind carry you to a place of great insight.

Nazir almost made me cry today, although I doubt he noticed, but only in the very best way. And, not surprisingly, I’ve been significantly calmer since.

I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ll hear more wise words in my future. With the wind at my back, I’ll be paying closer attention and will continue to share. Chances are, I’m not the only one who needs to hear them.