In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched you desire,

Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,

Noticing how you will yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety,

And the gray promises that sameness whispered,

Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,

Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,

And out you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream,

A path of plentitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear,

You can trust the promise of this opening;

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;

Soon you will home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

John O’Donohue reminds us that change rarely arrives with fanfare. It gathers quietly, in the overlooked corners of the heart, long before we feel ready to name it. What we often experience as restlessness, dissatisfaction, or longing is not failure — it’s information. A signal that something within us has already begun to shift.

New beginnings don’t require certainty. They ask for courage. The willingness to loosen our grip on what once fit, even when it still feels familiar. Growth asks us to step away from the comfort of sameness and trust that clarity often follows movement, not the other way around.

Leadership, like life, unfolds this way. We don’t wait until the path is fully visible. We learn to listen for what’s quietly forming, to honor the wisdom of discomfort, and to step forward with integrity, trusting that a new rhythm will meet us when we do.

The invitation is simple, and not easy: unfurl into what’s calling you. Your soul already knows the way.