Now that you have a list of activities you can engage in when feeling tempted to engage in doing mode, you can choose to be with these activities instead.

As noted earlier in this session’s materials, the Refusal of the Call often manifests in a temptation to return to the way things have always been. Change is difficult, and setting out on a path of personal and permanent change for the better can sometimes be the most difficult life-changing experience of all. We feel tempted to tell ourselves, “change is too hard,” or “I’ve always been this way, why change now?” or “people won’t like me if I change.”

We’re very good at coming up with excuses because if we don’t then we have to take responsibility for our lives. That can be a scary place to be for those of us who have never done it before. When we take responsibility for our own lives we have nobody else to blame if we fail. What we sometimes forget, though, is that if we take responsibility for our own lives, then we are the only ones who can take credit for our successes.

Taking the leap of faith required to trust ourselves is a major step in answering the Call to Adventure. Sometimes it helps to have a little Supernatural Aid.

Art Thompson’s “Boo-Qwilla” totem pole, Stanford University campus; Palo Alto, CA. A sign nearby reads: “On this Nuu-chah-nulth totem pole, Thunderbird, with wings outstretched, towers overhead. He perches on top of Raven, the creator of Earth, Light, and Consciousness. Raven’s wings encompass the headdress of Boo-Qwilla, a person of knowledge, wisdom, and achievement. Legend affirms this ancestral human is Raven’s most prized creation who is charged with the safekeeping of knowledge and the preservation of the earth. At the base, a supernatural Killer Whale transforms into a Wolf. This creature possesses magical healing powers which aid humankind.”