Listen to Yourself

Three years ago my friend lost her husband at an early age. She was left to raise two teenage sons alone. In an instant, her whole life was dismantled. The foundation upon which she had based her life rapidly dissolved. Everything she had trusted in and relied upon was gone. There was no chance of turning back, the process of creating her new reality was her only option. The familiar no longer applied to her life, she had to navigate her way through uncharted territory.
She went through all the emotions one does when crisis is thrust upon us. She experienced shock, anger, depression and acceptance. I witnessed much of her journey and I watched as she turned her pain into suffering. This suffering was for a worthy cause, it was for her growth and development. More importantly, in her eyes, it was for her sons. She never lost sight of the fact that she had to move forward and not live in the past. She made many tough decisions and rode the wave of change that had blown into her life. She didn't wallow in self-pity, she simply accepted her new life with full cooperation. As she once told me, "I sometimes fake it until I can make it."
Just last year, I asked what she had learned from this. Without hesitation, she said, "I learned to listen to myself."
I cannot think of a better lesson in life, than to listen to yourself. She chose to be responsible for all of her choices and accepted the consequences. By listening to herself, she chose a responsible life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "a friend is one before whom I may think out loud."
Let me just say out loud, how proud I am of my friend and for all she has become. She has taken responsibility for her life and fulfilled her noble aspirations. She did all of this by listening to herself.
Have you learned to listen to yourself?