Q: When you keep hitting brick walls, how do you know if you should persevere or just give up and move on?

What a great question! You don’t want to give up on something important to you when success could be just around the corner, yet you also don’t want to waste your time and energy on something that isn’t going to work out as you’d hoped.

Here are some questions to ask yourself as you decide your best course of action: Is this project or goal still speaking to my heart? Do I find it hard or impossible to go one day without thinking about it? Do I find myself fantasizing about how amazing it will feel when I get it? Am I doodling about it, dreaming about it or talking about it daily?

If the answer to these questions is “yes,” then stay the course. If your heart is leading you in that direction, follow its guidance and keep on. However, it’s possible the brick walls are a call to pause and reassess your approach. Have you done enough research or due diligence? Do you have a clear plan in place? Are there tweaks that could be made to your approach that could be the point on which things pivot and begin going your way? Even if you feel strongly that you want to continue in your pursuit of this goal, it can be a very helpful exercise to step back, reassess, make any tweaks necessary and then carry on!

However, if your answer to these questions is “no”—if you feel a wash of relief at the thought of giving up the drive—then perhaps you would be best served by tabling the pursuit at least for a while. There is nothing wrong with changing your mind about what is important to you. Through your efforts, you’ve probably experienced more clarity than you had before—clarity about what is important to you, what your boundaries are, what your, “Heck, yes!” is and what your “hard pass” is as well.

Q: There are so many names tossed around these days in spiritual writing that it’s confusing. Do I talk or pray to “God” or “the Universe”? Does it matter? Is there another name more appropriate to use?

There are many terms used to address the creative force behind it all, including “Higher Self,” “All That Is,” “Great Spirit,” and more. The good news is that the Energy that created us—and all that is—is not affected at all by the name we use to address it.

It might seem too obvious to restate, but we are in a time of great change. It’s almost as if COVID was the spark that began a period in which the old way is left behind for good, but the new way has not yet emerged. Just as negative forces seem to be growing, so too is consciousness rising.

I attended four Abraham-Hicks events in recent years, and last May I saw Eckhart Tolle live in Atlanta. Each time, the venue was packed. Hicks’ audiences filled the grand ballroom at the hotel. I can’t help but notice that more and more people are searching for deeper meaning, and they are using different languages to describe what they experience.

Many teachers today shy away from using the term “God,” since it is sometimes associated with a punitive power, filled with anger and wrath. For that reason, many authors and teachers choose to use a more general term to describe the loving, creative Energy you address when you pray. Metaphysical teacher and author Mike Dooley has stated, “God is not an angry white man.”

So how should you address the Being to whom you pray, with whom you desire a close relationship, that most loving, ever-present friend? The answer is to use the term with which you feel most comfortable.

I still address “God” most of the time, but I recognize that one grouping of three sounds does not and cannot encompass an infinite being. More important than the name you use is that you use it and personalize it. Religion has taught us that we need a middleman to have a relationship with the Divine, but the truth is, we each have access to our loving Creator. That Being knows you, loves you, and guides you each and every day of your life and understands the desires of your heart. That Being is not constrained in any way by the name we choose to use. ❧

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Diane Martinez is a certified holistic life coach based in Sandy Springs. She offers in-person and virtual one-on-one life coaching and small group classes on Zoom. Follow her on Instagram @LifeCoachMartinez and visit ConsciousCreatingLifeCoaching.com.