Apr 9 2012

Change: Week One {any kind of change breeds fear within}

Always do what you are afraid to do.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is vital to get this point out of the way. That embarking on change means you will be traveling with varying levels of fear. But, let’s view fear through a pin hole {instead of magnifying glass}. Shall we?

As in: When we begin to assume the worst, let’s flip it … So that “bad stuff, worst-case-scenarios and oh-no’s” are not unduly influencing us. Because outcomes are never a terrible as we imagine them to be.

:: cues musical prompt :: ♫♫ Come Sail Away, Styx ♫

Fear is:

  1. your feeling-barometer measuring “pressure” changes. :shock:
  2. pressure variances forecast short term changes.
  3. proof that you have moved outa your comfort zone. :mrgreen:
  4. your personal start line as you embark on Next.
  5. overcome with tangible action. Um, like, change. ;)

We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

So, what else holds you back?

That is the question I journaled about {over and over, in layers} … The cycles of “try hard, give up” were clear to me. And even adjusting for my over-achiever and perfectionist tendencies — those cycles remained quite evident. What stopped the movement of the ever-widening circles of living beyond those cycles?

What I identified:

I had faulty beliefs.

I was stuck because of my {habitual} responses to my life challenges. I had confused the unwillingness {inability} to make a decision with perseverance and patience.

Read: :roll: I slapped a socially acceptable label over what I was complaining about. That which was making me miserably unfocused; physically, mentally and spiritually uncomfortable; and.or emotionality-reactive {mostly expressed through anger}.

So, I started with these four (4) questions:

This Week’s Prompt

What are your answers to these questions?

Gift yourself the ease, liberty and space to:

  • jot down one-word-answers
  • compile lists {as many as needed}
  • brainstorm to identify, clarify and define your answers via:
    • doodles
    • images
    • photographs
    • colors
    • spattered paint
    • multimedia collage
    • your words
    • quotations
  • keep something to record your thoughts with you {bedside, desk} as much as possible:
    • your journal or a spiral notebook; phone app or an online journal, like Penzu* or OhLife
    • a ziplock bag with bits of loose paper, Post-it® notes or small note pads, and pens

Braveheart, keep this simple and free-flowing. It is a proposed tool for you {not a weapon against yourself}. If it becomes “too much” … allow yourself to pause. Resist placing expectations upon this process …

  • The only goal is to begin … if it is your time to do so.

There can be no courage unless you’re scared.
~Eddie Rickenbacker

Is it your time?

Are you at the place in time where …

1) you know something needs to change, and
2) you are willing/able to commit to change

I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it.
~Rainer Maria Rilke

 

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