It’s a beautiful day. My hunny kissed me goodbye over and over before heading to ride some horses this morning. He left me with some cold coffee and a few donut holes from the day before. Time with him is good and silly. I hope we continue to laugh together forever, and to hold this space of freedom, acceptance, and love between us until the end of our time.

One of the most disorienting challenges on the spiritual path is discerning when discomfort is something to grow through and when it’s a signal to leave.

I think a lot of us have this idea that on the spiritual path, everything’s supposed to feel good all the time. And if it doesn’t feel good, then it must not be for us.

But this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Because we’re never going to like everything we do. We’re never going to like doing our taxes or making a website. We might not like hiring an assistant, but when that assistant is with us, we are so grateful for the time they save us.

And I think this generally applies to many of the things we do. We don’t like [insert thing you do for your health that you don’t generally like], but it’s good for us, and so we have to do a lot of things we don’t like to be well-rounded humans in the world.

But, when is the point at which you leave?

When, though, is the dislike for something, the frustration for something, telling us that something is wrong here?

I get hung up on this all the time.

And today, I’m trying to get honest with myself about what’s actually bothering me about the Spiritual Direction Certification I’m doing.

Right now, it’s: I truly don’t like this Spiritual Direction Certification I’m in, but maybe once I’m “certified,” people will pay me money for a service, and that will be nice.

Here’s how my discernment is going:

If the course cost $500 instead of $7,000, I would probably stay without much hesitation. That tells me the core issue isn’t that the program is completely worthless—it’s that the value simply doesn’t match the price. When something costs $7k, I expect a serious container: depth, rigor, real skill-building, and teachers who are clearly transmitting something earned through experience.

What I’m encountering instead feels much closer to…