The stumble that broke my beliefs 👟

Last week, as I walked my dog Harper down a hill near our house, I noticed something I’ve seen a hundred times but somehow missed for years. There’s a steep stretch on the trail where the gravel shifts beneath your feet.

Note to self: If you’re not careful, gravity does the deciding for you.

About halfway down, Harper—oblivious to the concept of “center of gravity”—pulled hard toward something rustling in the brush. I lost my footing, wobbled, windmilled my arms, and braced for the kind of fall that becomes your family’s favorite Thanksgiving story.

But just before I went down, I felt two things at the same time:

My body saying, “You’re going to fall,”
and
An almost surprising steadiness rising up from somewhere deeper than my quads or core.

It wasn’t strength I earned. It wasn’t balance I’d practiced. It was something else—something that met me in the wobble.

I caught myself. I stood still. And I laughed out loud at how quickly my mind had measured my capability based on the moment I was in…and how wrong it was.

 

 

The real question beneath every challenge

That 3-second stumble mirrors something we all do—every day, dozens of times, often without noticing.

We measure ourselves according to beliefs about self-power.

How do you measure your capability—by your track record, or by the bigger energy that walks beside you?

 

 

A bigger energy is always in the room

We’re not meant to live on self-power alone.

Every one of us—a young child learning to walk, a midlife woman reinventing herself, an elder facing uncertainty—does the same thing repeatedly:

We measure our capability.

We look at what’s currently on our plate and instinctively assess whether we think we can handle it.

It’s not irrational to look at our history for clues. Our minds love evidence.

We think:

• Have I done this before?
• Where have I failed?
• What usually trips me up?
• Where am I weak?
• What have I learned?

None of this is wrong.

But it’s incomplete.

There is a bigger reality at play—a spiritual, universal, creative force that infuses our lives with support far beyond our personal resources.

Call it God, Divine Love, Creative Energy, the Universe, the Life Force that breathes through everything.

Whatever name resonates with you, the truth is the same:

You are not expected to live on your own strength alone.

You are not meant to white-knuckle your way through purpose.

This world is wired with support, guidance, synchronicity, and grace.

 

 

The inner tug-of-war we don’t talk about

We all experience an inner conflict: trusting only what we can see vs. trusting what is also unseen.

As individuals, we often default to one measuring stick:

our track record.

In moments of stress or self-doubt, we forget that something bigger lives within and alongside us.

Most of us have lived enough life to have a mix of:

• wins
• bruises
• false starts
• do-overs
• moments we’d rather not highlight in our memoirs

So when a new challenge shows up, our brain—trying to protect us—goes straight to the file cabinet of “What’s Already Happened.”

But here’s where the story shifts:

Your past is not the truest measurement of your capability.

Your potential is larger than your résumé of successes and failures.

You are more than your track record because you are more than self-powered.

There is a reservoir of strength, wisdom, resilience, and guidance that does not originate in your experiences but flows through your connection to something greater.

 

 

Life’s little miracles are not accidents

The Universe often meets us through people, timing, and unexpected nudges.

Think about your own life.

Have there been moments when:

• someone called right when you needed encouragement?
• the right book fell off the shelf?
• a chance encounter redirected a whole decision?
• you received a resource you didn’t know to ask for?
• you were carried through a circumstance you were sure would break you?

These are not coincidences.

They are reminders.

The Universe rarely shouts.

It nudges. It orchestrates. It collaborates.

It meets us through people, yes—but also through inner clarity, timing, and the quiet ways life reveals its interconnectedness.

The message behind all of it:

You’re not walking this road alone. You never were.

 

 

The sacred partnership within every step forward

Your partnership with the Divine is the real source of your capability.

One of the most transformative truths we can embrace is this:

The grace that supports us is not a concept—it’s presence.

Not a tool, but a relationship.

Not a shift in circumstances, but an indwelling strength that rises to meet the moment.

When we tap into this partnership—when we remember that the Universe, God, Divine Love lives with and within us—we step into a radically new understanding of our capability.

We stop asking:

Can I do this with my own strength?

And begin asking:

What becomes possible when I’m not trying to do this alone?

This shift changes everything—our decisions, our creativity, our relationships, our purpose, our ability to rise, try again, forgive ourselves, and move forward.

Here’s a brief practice to grow this partnership.

 

🌱 The Practice: The Partnership Pause