WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW THE WAY YET 

For the uncertain places where you cannot see

the whole road from where you are. 

There are times when we simply do not know.

We don't know what comes next.

We don't know which choice is the right one.

We don't know whether to stay or go.

Begin again or wait.

Hold on or let go.

And sometimes, despite all our searching, there is no sign pointing clearly toward the answer.

We stand at the edge of what we know, looking into what we don't.

That can be an uncomfortable place to be.

We are taught to make plans.

Set goals.

Know where we're going.

Have an answer when someone asks,

“What's next?”

But life does not always reveal itself that way.

Sometimes the road appears only as we walk it.

Sometimes all we are given is enough light for the place where our feet are standing now.

That does not mean you are lost.

It may simply mean that you have reached a part of your life that cannot be known in advance.

You don't have to force certainty where certainty does not yet exist.

You don't have to make a permanent decision simply because uncertainty is uncomfortable.

And you don't have to see the end of the road before taking one honest step.

Perhaps the next step is a conversation.

A question.

A little more time.

A closed door.

An open one.

A change of direction.

Or perhaps, for today, the next step is simply staying where you are until you can hear yourself again.

Not knowing can feel like standing still.

But something may still be happening there.

You may be listening.

Learning.

Reconsidering.

Gathering courage.

Discovering what no longer fits.

Beginning to recognize what does.

There are places we cannot navigate by seeing farther.

We navigate them by paying closer attention.

So if you don't know the way yet, you do not need to pretend that you do.

Stand where you are.

Notice what is here.

And when the next true step becomes visible—

take that one.

You do not have to see the whole road to begin.