Have you ever seen the television program “Grand Designs”? Basically, it’s about people who are either building a new home from scratch, or totally restoring an old building so that it’s liveable again. I really enjoy watching how completely empty plots of land, or buildings that are little more than a pile of bricks held up with supports, are transformed into beautiful homes.

The people, who are building, or rebuilding, start off with a very clear vision and passion for what they want to achieve. Many of them, where they can, do a lot of the work themselves, but call in professionals to help and/or do the things that are beyond their own skills (electricians, roofers, plumbers, thatchers, etc). You can see the journey these people go through in terms of having a vision, and then working towards that goal with the vision being the thing that really keeps them going at times! There are times when you see some people on the programme worried because they’re running out of money, or because things keep going wrong, or things are delayed. You see some people living and working in properties in the middle of winter where it’s absolutely freezing. Or others who don’t have proper running water or electricity.

The thing about this programme is that they all get there in the end. Whilst there were times when they felt like giving up, they didn’t because they knew that, in the end, they would get the result they wanted: A beautiful home to live in which they had created themselves. I’ve seen many emotions expressed throughout the programmes but never anger or resentment towards the property that the people were building. Never hard or harsh about the building itself. They loved the home they were building and so nurtured and repaired it, no matter what it took because, at the end of the day, they would also benefit from living in such a stunning and wonderful place that they themselves had created and restored.

This is very much like our physical lives. We are doing a bit of both really – creating and restoring. We are creating a new life for ourselves every single minute, of every single day. We are also restoring elements of ourselves that we love and want to shine out for the world to see. Our problems lie in that we sometimes forget or don’t focus enough on what it is we want to the world to see. Rather than seeing the end result, we keep seeing the chimney that’s falling down, or the lack of running water, or the windows are still missing. In other words, we see that still don’t have confidence in some areas, or we’re still not yet brilliant in others, or that we still get angry and frustrated unnecessarily at times, and so on.

Our Soul, and God/The All That Is, understands that we are a “work in progress”. Our Soul is the architect and has the vision of what we really are and the potential we have to shine – we just need to talk to it more often. In order to build a house, you need an architect and you need plans and vision for what it will look like in order to make it happen. We are very much the same, except we have a tendency to focus on what currently is, rather than referring back to the Soul Architect who can remind us of what we are becoming.

We also need to learn to accept where we are, and that we are a “work in progress”. We expect ourselves to be the finished product right now and can be very unforgiving of ourselves when we realise we’re not. The other thing to remember is this… there is a schedule of works and an end date when building a house. No point getting angry after 4 months because it’s not finished if the house is scheduled to take 10 months to build! Schedules can be altered if necessary and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The thing about the schedule of life and learning is: God/The All That Is knows what the date is that we’re aiming for and we just need to learn to trust that! Everything happens for a reason, even the setbacks and challenges that we face in life, and everything happens when it is meant to. When you need help, the right person or professional or teacher will appear. We just need to remember to keep our eyes and senses open and be receptive to them when they arrive.

So cut yourself a bit of slack. Take some time out to connect with your Soul or Higher Self (or inner wisdom if that works better for you) about what your vision of “you” is. Ask yourself how you’re really doing without being critical or judgmental. Don’t compare yourself with anyone else and his or her journey. My house vision is not the same as your house vision so it’s not helpful to compare the two. By being centred and in better connection with your “inner architect” you can remind yourself how much you love the vision of what you’re becoming. All you’re really doing, though, is chipping off the outside to reveal the beauty that already lies within. Like Michelangelo when he was carving “David”.

Of course the final thing to remind ourselves of is that change is constant. We will never finish growing and evolving as that is the nature of the Universe. So you may as well get used to the fact that, when you reach your current vision of who you want to be or what you want to achieve, there will then be something else to strive for. So enjoy the ride as it is endless and limitless!