What happens when I don't leave time to integrate?

As we are gifted with a deeper understanding of what it means to be ourselves in this lifetime, new opportunities and challenges present themselves that were not available at previous levels of the video game.

Sometimes we get stuck on the same level for a long time. Some times we don't even realize we are still on the same level. And other times we try to use the Magic Whistle to get to more advanced levels only to realize we needed the skills from that previous level in order to advance further.

Yes, video games were an important part of my education helping me develop problem solving and critical thinking skills, but I digress.

This plays out in real life all the time.

The universe has a funny way of presenting us with similar lessons over and over again until we fully learn and integrate them. I have a handful of repeating themes that have continued to show up throughout my lifetime, and it is only very recently that I've started to notice these patterns.

One of these lessons that I haven't fully integrated is ironically leaving adequate time to integrate.

The world we live in does not reward us for integration. We must achieve and do and create and learn and advance. So we skip over the stage of integration immediately moving on to the next thing. Sometimes, we don't even wait until one thing finishes to start the next.

This repeating pattern in my life has always led to a similar outcome: when I don't leave time to integrate, life forces me to stop and integrate.

This has shown up in so many different forms, but it's always about getting me to slow down and notice what life is presenting to me. I might get sick after running myself into the grown physically. Some form of family emergency might pop up. A company might dissolve or blow up in spectacular fashion. An intimate relationship ends abruptly. Sometimes it's a new form, and other times it's an eerily similar form. Every time though I suddenly have space to step back and revisit what was being revealed at the previous level.

I used to be unaware and unconscious that this was happening. Just plowing through life from one thing to the next. More achievement. More information. More clients. More employees. More books. More conferences. And then, BAM! Something happens to force a hard reset.

I do my best now to allow for more time to integrate, so life doesn't have to be so forceful. And when it's time to slow down again, it feels more like gratitude than pain as I have the opportunity to revisit the previous season and gain greater perspective and understanding.

Bottom line: you either create adequate time to integrate or life will, often unpleasantly, force you to do so.