The Altaisins believe that the Shamans (healers, holders of the Truth –the Knowledge) originated from Altai. Many shamans were killed in a meeting years ago –a meeting called to enable peace. Those who listened to their inner knowing did not attend and survived.Of the direct decendents of those original Shamans, only a few remain. At an official meeting in Altai, I was approached by one of them.

Our talk was complicated by our need for a translator– Shamans see the world a little differently than most of us and our translator’s desire to translate the Shaman’s meaning to what she thought he meant, at first. But, soon we had a rhythm and an understanding.

He (Kahn) Yuri, sees the world is coming to the end of the way of life as it has been. It is time for our mind, body, spirit connection to integrate. Will we make this transition successfully? He looked somewhat sad. The struggle has been long and using the tip of his nail as an indicator, he told me we have this much of a chance as the time is so close.

Words from Shaman, I am told, are often meant to take time to understand. As I awoke the next morning the revelation hit me, he was describing the last stage of our Emotional Steps that related to the 3 Phase of Change in our 7 Step Model.

Now we are standing at nearly the bottom of the energy drop off, just before integration takes place AND where most change fails, as we often give up when this deep drop off of energy/productivity hits us. Yet, if have patience… integration takes place and the situation reverses itself and a massive surge of energy and productivity takes place when we finally are able to let go fo the old and integrate the new.

As I described this to a colleague, I realized that it was like mountain climbing. When you turn our model upside down, it became so clear. The steep drop off and change, became a mountain. Could it be that we are nearly at the top of the mountain, tired, worn out, living in dualities so long, wondering is it worth trying to change at all…should we just continue with the old way or turn back or start something new? The answer may be that we are so close to the top, why not keep going… so we can enjoy the view at the summit and rest on the vast and flourish plateau when we arrive.

Are there situations in your life where you are undergoing major change and feel ready to quit? Could you be closer to the summit than you think? What would it take to keep going and continue to the end… to the summit?