Photo by Muneeb Syed on Unsplash
unpolished thoughts 2/2/2019
It’s a beautiful thing when you notice options in life that previously were invisible.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. I’m thinking about it tonight as I fly from Seattle back to Washington DC, from my childhood home back to my current residence.
Being thousands of feet above the earth is sometimes a good place to clarify things since it’s never guaranteed that we will come back down safely.
It’s true – life is complicated.
But despite all the complications, I’ve come to realize there is nothing so complicated that it merits becoming an excuse for why I can’t steadily move forward in pursuit of my dreams
That’s an amazing feeling, because I used to be so good at convincing myself that small inconveniences were proof that I could never have the life I wanted.
Now I know that whenever I’m confused, I can slow down and tune into my body.
I know that the sensations there carry real meaning. They will faithfully guide me if I have the patience to listen long enough to understand what they are saying.
I’ve also learned that they will often point me in the direction of challenges that I’ve been studiously avoiding.
While I hardly relish these moments, I’ve learned to anticipate that buckling down and confronting my fears and hang ups inevitably leads to positive growth and change.
I’ve spent a lot of time in the recent months controlled by anxiety, giving into old arguments and procrastinating on new initiatives.
It’s time for that to end now.
It’s time to make bigger mistakes than I’ve ever made before if that’s what’s necessary.
My intention is to practice moving through life from a new place of power.
I will enter unknown situations with the assumption that I belong and that my contributions will be appreciated.
If I maintain this posture, I’m almost guaranteed to overstep at times, but I also expect to find that there are many treasures awaiting me.
It’s time to find out what I’ve been missing by my habit of making myself small.
It will be an experiment, but I think it’s a good one.
I’m going to assume that the world is waiting to receive my gifts, that I no longer need to ask permission.
I’m going to act on the idea that if my voice were louder and more people heard my words, the world would actually be a better place.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think so.
I’ve spent quite a long time now learning from my mistakes and clarifying my intentions.
I’m ready to build something.
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What about you?
Where have you been holding yourself back?
What if you experimented with speaking a little louder and taking up a little more space?
How can you be so sure that the world isn’t waiting for you to make a larger contribution?
It’s simple: you can’t.
You’ll never know unless you give it a try.
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