In our household, we have a name for that thing you do when you walk right up to the next step you know you need to take, and then, you do something else first.
We call it – “A trip to the bank.”
You’re about to drive to an audition or send out your first email newsletter or call about an art exhibition and instead, what do you do, you drive to the bank, in rush hour traffic, across the other side of town. Thus jeopardizing the thing you actually need to do.
(Based on actual events)
How to tell if you’re taking a trip to the bank
Amidst your mind’s constant-incessant-never-ending-ongoing chatter it can be hard to tell if the new thing you’ve just thought of doing, is a trip to the bank or just a sensible adjustment to the plan.
Are you improving your position thus improving your chance of success or are you being a scaredy pants?
The truth of it all is, it’s easy to give in to your fear and never do “the thing.” So easy, that many people spend their whole life doing it. They never take the leap.
There’s a project I’ve been working towards for over 6 months. It’s crunch time. Time to send it off. But wait, I need to do more to this section. Don’t I?
Honest to God, I can’t tell if I’m taking a trip to the bank or not.
So I asked my husband. He’s not sure either.
Then I asked my sister. Who thinks I possibly am but doesn’t really know either.
The best way to tell, is to sit quietly and see what you feel in your gut. Your gut isn’t afraid. It knows when to jump and when to keep working.
Because here’s what I know
Your mind is afraid of change
There is nothing you can do to change this. It’s the nature of the mind. Your mind will always be afraid of leaping into something it can’t visualize; into something new.
Though from experience the more times you leap despite your mind being terrified, the easier it gets . . .
Think of it like riding a roller coaster. Flying around a small track at high speed is scary, but you know it’ll be ok. You’re strapped in so tight you can hardly turn around. If you die the engineer looses his job, and you know he doesn’t want that.
Leaping into new thing when it feels like a good thing to do is not only safe, but it’s what life is about. It’s how you get where you want to go. Otherwise you’d just keep doing the same thing over and over.
And really what’s the worst that can happen?
At some point you have to jump.
Expect it to be scary. And trust the engineer. (Looking heavenward)
Are you Taking a Trip to the Bank?
Is there something that you feel is a good idea to do, but you’ve decided you can’t do it until something else happens?
Until you’ve cleaned out your closet?
Or built a new website?
Lost weight or bought a new dress?
Okay. Now. Ask yourself, is this really true? Can you do “the thing” now? Is it possible?? Because your mind will try and convince you to do every other thing than the thing it’s really scared of.
And sometimes when this happens, it’s better to just JUMP!
Just saying.
Want to share a leap you’re considering taking?
I’d love to hear from you and I’m sure others would too.
I know that so many readers of this blog are in the middle of navigating either tough times or big life changes of one sort or another. And I don’t know about you but I love hearing about other people being brave.
And being brave is not always about “doing something” – sometimes the bravest thing you can do is curl up and accept how things are, knowing they won’t always be this way.
Sometimes hunkering down is the leap. Stopping trying. Trusting the flow of life.
What’s your leap and is there something you think you need to do first, before you do the thing you really want to do?
Here’s mine:
THE LEAP: Sending out my book proposal to find a suitable literary agent and/or publisher for a series of books I want to write, including 7 Secrets.
POSSIBLE TRIP TO THE BANK: Making changes to one of the sections. Again.
SOLUTION: A compromise. My mind wants another week, I’m going to give it two days. Wish me luck! (I’m writing this on the 4th AUGUST 2013. I’ll let you know how it goes.)
What’s yours!!??
