If you were able to read my November column, you know that someone very important to the Valley, and to me personally, died Nov. 15. Wendy has guided me a lot in my life and I’ll be forever grateful to her for that. What fascinates me even more is that she continues to inspire and guide me, even after she’s gone. Let me explain…
I was very fortunate to get to see Wendy on a Saturday a few weeks before she left us. We spent some time chatting and she had a gift for me. A book. It’s by an author that Wendy had met on a retreat and befriended. His name is Robert Ohotto. He is an intuitive guide and teacher, and wrote the book, Transforming Fate into Destiny. From that last material gift Wendy gave, she has provided me with a number of gifts in terms of understanding a new frontier — fate and destiny. Ohotto explains many principles related to fate and destiny and guides the reader on how we answer, for ourselves, the deepest question we could ever reflect on, which is, “For what reason have I been born?”. Why am I here?
While this self-exploration and understanding of fate vs destiny is a journey that one must discover for self, understanding the fundamental principles of our deeper selves and our purpose is, I think, quite fascinating to explore. It feels like explorers over the millennia must have felt when courageously adventuring and charting the previously unknown. Relinquishing some perceived control and accepting the challenge to go beyond — to places we’ve never been. Places within ourselves.
Ohotto explains in his book how the soul and the ego wrestle for directional control, and how fate was written before we incarnated, yet our free will and decision-making shapes that in to our destiny. He shares that our soul is meant to be our true master and commander, yet we often allow our ego (our sense of self largely built by our experiences and learning from those closest to us and society) to lead. It is explained that soul and ego must exist in harmony for full potential and purpose to be tapped into and expressed. And thankfully, some strategies on how to do that such as daily gratitude and affirmation practice, reflection, humility and contribution are discussed.
Another fascinating part of this book discusses how (sometimes huge!) obstacles in our lives are meant to serve one of two purposes: either to build our resilience and learn a new lesson and keep going in that direction with new strength, or to knock us right off that track and cause us to get back to where we are supposed to be, albeit in a different direction. Naturally, the next question becomes, well, how do I know which one it is? A resilience-builder for the same direction vs a course corrector for a new direction? Ohotto adeptly describes that it’s about knowing our passion. You choose which one it is by tapping into your soul and discovering what your true passions and purpose are. Then you know which direction the obstacle is pointing you towards. It actually starts to sound somewhat simple (and as per usual, not easy) to start to tap into our soul’s purpose, when we slow down in our mind, reflect, and listen internally.
It has become clear to me that Wendy discovered this truth in her soul long ago and has lit lanterns along the way for us on how to live with more depth, truth, meaning, passion and inward peace, calm and joy. How to dialogue with our deepest internal drive — our soul. How to discover what it is that each of us are here to do. How to transform our fate into our destiny. Thank you, Wendy.
Chris Wilkinson is the owner/GM for Nurse Next Door Home Care Services for Cowichan and central Vancouver Island. For more info visit www.NurseNextDoor.com or for questions or a free in-home Caring Consult call 250-748-4357, or email Chris.Wilkinson@NurseNextDoor.com.