So much has been swirling lately, and I imagine your life has been churning in its own way. We’re also currently in Mercury Retrograde, which is tough to ignore when it is causing interesting hiccups and situations, especially with communications, transportation and business deals.

I have so often mentioned this idea of “information gathering” to my friends and family in the last many years, and I try to remember this strategy for my own life. As I’ve been reminding myself heavily of this approach all week, I knew it was time to share the reminder. That’s my sweet boy (dog) Harley in the picture above; animals are such wonderful information-gatherers. They put their noses in everything and use their senses to guide their journeys in the backyard and in the home. When I talk about information-gathering, I’m referring to the practice of trying to take the judgment out of events that we experience and see each experience as an opportunity to learn and an inspiration to consider our other choices and possibilities. I completely understand that we’re human, and that we often have emotional reactions to life’s circumstances, but one of the main keys is to see everything as “information.”

Let me demonstrate. Recently I thought all signs were pointing to my moving–and moving quickly; some of you know my circumstances. In a matter of a few days, news started pouring in–news that was making it more difficult to move, and just yesterday the buyers informed me they put an offer elsewhere, and other red lights appeared financially. I admit I went down the hole of sadness for a bit. Disappointing realities and exhaustion and confusion piled on, and there were even tears this week. Oh, please know I was full on into my humanness. And then it hit me (it just took a little longer for me this time): It’s all information. If I see it as such, and stop crying and stop feeling victim-y, I can instead interpret these events not as “I’ll never be able to move” but “Wow, okay, that definitely took a turn I wasn’t expecting. What did I learn? What are my next steps? What other information do I need? What other options do I have?”

There’s something valuable in enjoying and choosing to be open to research. Ask my close friends and family, and they’ll confirm that I’m a “researcher.” I enjoy looking at my options and exploring for almost any decision, so I can be informed and perhaps discover something that might even be better, something that perhaps is new and “not on my radar.” We can approach our job paths, our relationships, our interests and, yes, even moving house with this idea of information-gathering, the approach of noticing what we’re experiencing, letting go of too much judging with what’s happening, and then turning to searching for more information to better lead us to where we need to be and what we can do.

I’m not suggesting that we don’t feel, but I’m concerned when I or others get stuck. As I walked with Harley this morning, I thought about how we’d never move forward if he chose to sniff in the same spot in the grass for hours, days, weeks (God forbid!); he sniffs, and he moves on, all the while gaining more information. With my clients, I’ve noticed such relief over the years in my reiki and tarot card reading sessions when after they share an experience that makes them so sad or angry or frustrated, I say, “Well, that’s interesting information, huh? It’s all information.” I’ve also found myself sharing that if we retrain ourselves, as much as we can, to more quickly (even if it’s after the short tantrum) or even immediately respond with “Well, that’s interesting information,” we can move forward by accepting that we always have options and choices. What needs more exploration? Where do we go from here? That tunnel just closed, so what are the other options? How is the Universe guiding us, and are we listening, given to how events are unfolding? Later, in the marvelous gift of hindsight, it seems that it was all for our highest good, anyway, no matter how surprising or hurtful or triggering something felt initially.

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This post was originally generated for my July 2013 Turtle Healing Energy newsletter. Sign up for my monthly newsletter in the right column’s simple form on my website at http://TurtleHealingEnergy.com. Much Light!

© Erika M. Schreck and Turtle Healing Energy, 2013. All rights reserved.