Who is God?
One of the most important players in the discernment process is God. Of course. But who is God? Is God someone who has an blue print of what I should do, hides it from me and says "aha, you missed finding it so you will not get the reward."? If that is how I image God, I have a very hard time discerning. I know how I feel when a friend decides I should know what she wants when she doesn't tell me. You have probably had the experience of not doing what someone wants when they gave no indication of what they wanted and then had to deal with their anger that you did not do what they wanted. That is not who God is. God is more like the friend who loves you no matter what you do but is honest with you about your strengths and weaknesses. When we see God this way, we can relax while we are discerning. And that is a great benefit to the discernment process.