Artwork by Aaron Jedlicka
" Whatever you're meant to do , do it now. The conditions are always impossible."
Doris Lessing
Once you let go, you have no idea where you will go.
We all like to be in control of our lives, we like to know what is going to come next.
What the next bill will be.
Where the next paycheck will come from, and how many zeros it will have.
We like to know what's going to happen each day, each week, each year.
In an effort to take control, to be in charge, we leave little to no room in our lives for magic.
A year ago my husband and I put an offer in on a house, one that would free us from a mortgage payment, but would also trigger a huge amount of change in our lives. We offered $12,000 less than they were asking, my husband assumed that we would never get the house....... and then we did.
And at the exact moment that I signed my name to the biggest check I've ever written in my life, the cords were cut, and there was no going back.
The decision was like standing at the top of a mountain and finally pushing the ball over the edge, letting it roll, not knowing where it would go, or how fast it move. Knowing the only guarantee was forward movement, aka change.
A week after making our new home purchase, we put our other house up for sale. We put it on the market before it was ready, because that's how I do things, and because we weren't sure that it would get a lot of traction. And after being on the market for one week, we had 4 showings, and one offer. This ball was moving much faster than expected.
We started before we were ready, because it was clear, that was the only way that we would ever get ready.
We started before we were ready, because we weren't sure what the end destination was, and while we didn't make these choices blindly or lightly, there was too much that we couldn't control, or predict.
You have to decide each morning to step forward.
You have to step forward even though you're afraid of falling on your face.
You have to step forward despite the voices in your head that are telling you not to. Despite the not knowing if your business is going to take off , if you're going to finally land that book deal or if you're going end up living back at home with your parents.
I once heard someone say there's a reason that great change and great success are called " breaking through the glass ceiling. "You can't break through the glass ceiling without getting cut."
While there are both mental and physical bruises ( I felt a need to move all of the furniture in the house by myself) I have faith that the reward will far outweigh the pain.
What is holding you back, and what is one step that you can take to moving forward?
Will you continue to hit the snooze button five times every morning as you avoid going to the job that you hate? Will you continue to accept the knots in your tight shoulders? Will you accept feeling like there is a rubber band shrinking around your head, as you sit in yet another pointless meeting?
Or will today be the day that you walk out of the meeting, that you write the resignation letter, that you pen the first sentence of the book that you've dreamt about?