Linger Or Leap

  
     We can all agree that it makes good sense to look before you leap.  However, after you've looked, after you've gathered the information with which to move forward, it may be counterproductive to stand at the edge of the precipice, staring down and thinking about what as deep chasm it is below you,, and about what will happen if you fall.  Rather, sometimes, you just have to make your decision and jump!  There are many challenges, or journeys, in life which can feel very overwhelming at the onset.  I can think of many challenges I could easily have talked myself out of tackling, had I "over-thought" the situation.  Challenges which have helped to forge some of my favorite aspects of my personality today, and which have helped me to access inner resources I hadn't known before, resources which have since come very much in handy.  Don't get me wrong - I fully advocate entering into new situations with both eyes open, but sometimes, for those very first halting moments on a new path, sometimes you just have to get a running start and go for it!

     I am about to start online classes in the next couple of weeks and whenever I let myself start to think very much about it, I begin to feel very uncomfortable - I have no idea how to be a student and a mom at the same time!   I have been a student before, but this is completely new.   It can be scary/intense getting ready to do something you have no idea how to do yet.  Moreover, it's a situation in which there's no way I can know how to do it, until I am already doing it!  So, while I am moving forward with both eyes open, learning everything I can about financial aid opportunities and such, I have made a conscious decision to make sure I have my books, and that I know when the first day of 'class' will be, and then, my friends, I am not going to think about it anymore until then!  Sometimes, over-thinking can just create the appearance of difficulty.  Some difficulty may be inevitable, but as my father's father advises, "don't borrow trouble".  Since new situations are, by their very nature, unpredictable, why even try?  Worrying/over-thinking a situation before you're there is like leaving your car door open all week, right before a cross-country road trip - you're gonna need that juice for the journey - don't use it up before you even get started! 

     We can strengthen ourselves for the journey (any journey) by entering the treasure chest of past successes - when have we each come closest to Alice's accomplishment of "six impossible things before breakfast"?  When else have you triumphed in a way you could not have predicted?  It's always good to visualize what it will feel like, and be like, when you are successful in your endeavor, but sometimes, the vision needs a little support.    I plan to actually write a list of all the things I have accomplished which I wouldn't have thought I could do until, lo and behold, I experienced it!  The more we can remind ourselves of our abilities to transcend the appearances of difficulty and limitation, the easier it is for us to continue to do so! 

     This post is more short-and-raw due to the holidays and holidays-related madness.  I wish everyone a beautiful holiday season full of light and magic.  Please remember in this darkest time of the year, that we, as humans, are miracles!  Right now, you are breathing, your heart is pumping blood, your cells are exchanging old fuel for new, and you don't even have to think about it!  It all just happens, miraculously.  We are miracles, capable of so much more than we can even realize - my holiday wish for myself and for everyone else is for us all to realize our limitless nature, and our ability to accomplish absolutely anything!