Photo by Jan Tinneberg on Unsplash
unpolished thoughts 1/19/2019
Just begin.
You don’t need to know exactly what you’re doing yet.
Just begin because your hesitation only guarantees your continued intertia.
It doesn’t mean to hurtle blindly forward at full speed.
It means begin – so that there is something to work with, so that something is in motion.
How often do you stop yourself before you even begin? What about all those wonderful ideas you have that are a little too daring to make real?
If you aren’t ready to try out your idea, why not at least talk about it?
Tell your friend: “Hey, listen, I have this idea…”
Now something has begun, something is moving.
Your friend – this reflection of you, this fellow human being – can now see what you previously held inside. What was invisible now stands in the light.
Your thoughts became words. The sounds entered another pair of ears and a new chain of events, invisible to you, is now unfolding inside of that other mind.
But it’s not so precious to them, not so hard to discuss as it was for you. It’s yours, not theirs.
Most likely they will have something to say, even if it is only the expression of their face. Their contribution sets new forces in motion.
What feels different now compared to just a moment ago when your idea was hiding inside of you?
Perhaps for you it depends on whether your idea was met with approval or not?
We were all trained this way. It makes perfect sense.
But have you experienced pure joy and delight when encountering an idea new to your world? Perhaps it came from a book, a poem, a piece of music, a scientific experiment, or a conversation overheard on the bus.
Were those ideas “approved” before you were permitted to experience them?
Aren’t you glad someone had the courage to birth those ideas into the world?
But you can start small. Just speaking the idea out loud invites a process to begin.
Or you could take it one step further.
Will you take one step?
Nothing is ever guaranteed. There is no such thing as a plan that always works.
How would it feel to be fearless about failure – to be so willing to fail that you could make 10 experiments each day? What new possibilities would exist at the end of a week?
Your idea isn’t perfect. Neither is your plan, nor your first step.
But as soon as you breathe life into them, don’t you see how much easier they become to shape and guide, now that you can touch and feel them?
Just begin.
Begin and breathe and feel the ground under your feet, the shifting of your weight from side to side, propelling you forward.
Listen to the words inside – are they the voice of fears and hesitations about what might be, or are they the feelings and observations about what is here in this moment?
Do these words guide your steps or make you afraid of the path?
Sometimes they are the same thing – sometimes even the fear guides you.
Just begin. Take the first step. Continue, and listen to yourself as you go.
************************
You can now receive my unpolished thoughts in your email on a daily basis when you subscribe to my mailing list.
New subscribers also receive a series of welcome emails which include two free full-length Feldenkrais audio lessons.
Click here to subscribe (and make sure to check the box to get the unpolished thoughts RSS feed just below where you enter your email address)