Have any of you seen the changing of the guards in London?
There’s a very formal step by step process. At 10:30AM the old guard in front of St. James Palace detaches from their post. They’re inspected by the Captain of the Queen’s guard & then released. At the same time, in Buckingham Palace, the old guard goes through the same process of detaching from their posts & being inspected. The guard from St. James marches down the Mall to Buckingham Palace and the two guards join at around 10:50. They wait about 10 minutes for the new guard to arrive (who is going through its own brand of inspection). At 11:00 the new guard enters into Buckingham Palace. The old guard & the new guard face each other. They do a formal salute and then there’s a ceremonial handing over of the key to the palace. There’s a whole process and at around 11:35AM the old guard leaves Buckingham Palace & marches down the Mall. The new guard splits itself into the two divisions – St. James & Buckingham Palace. Approximately an hour after it began, the guard change is complete. Long, detailed, orderly, precise change.
Like the changing of the guard, the changing of a flag, or the changing of tides there is a moment when everything seems to be standing still. The old hasn’t completely gone and the new isn’t yet visible. This can be happening in our lives as well. We might feel like so much energy has been spent with so little visibly changed. Things may feel grey as we’ve removed the old but have yet to paint in the new colors. Change can feel like you’re pushing a barrel uphill with no sign of the destination in sight.
Just like the changing of the Guard, every step has its purpose, whether it may be clear or not to those looking on. If you’ve ever seen an M. Night Shyamalan film you know that there’s always a watershed moment when all of the clues you’ve been gathering along the way suddenly make sense. If you feel lost, or like you’re not getting anywhere – consider this perspective. Just because things don’t make sense right this second, doesn’t mean they’re not ever going to make sense. Continue the journey down the path, collect plants, feathers, rocks, companions as you go. Put them in your backpack for when the time is right.
What I see frequently is that it’s exactly in these moments of stall or stagnancy that the breakthrough comes. In situations where success wasn’t immediate, it was in the desperately seeking for an alternative answer that an even bigger idea came. So if you haven’t found the response yet, don’t think it’s not going to come.
We’re often sent messengers and messages when we’re ready to hear them. In the meantime the only way to assure you don’t get where you want to go is by giving up. So trust in the process & wait for the old guard to finish its inspection so it can give the new guard the key. It will be time soon enough to be out with the old & in with the new.
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