Hi Everyone,
Happy Monday! It’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to write. Life held me captive for a while. I wanted to start this week right, affirming the positive and taking the time to take care of my inner self. Last night, as I was in bed, at an hour where I should’ve been sleeping, I found myself kept awake by thoughts of my life, where I’ve been, what I am going through and where I envision it going and how I feel… I thought about the people around me and pondered over what appeared to work and then thought of my own life…
I’ve come to realize that of the examples I’ve seen that inspired me, those who appeared to be ultimately the happiest are the people who are not afraid of taking chances. It sounds like such a no-brainer but I’ve noticed that a lot of people seem to have a fear of doing just that. They are afraid of losing “control” of the outcome of their life. At times, this even takes the form of a subliminal message that the individual is unconscious of.
I was reminded of something that I learned from my training many moons ago at the Landmark Forum that came out as the result of a recent discussion with a fellow Landmark graduate… There was part of the training where a pie is used as a metaphor of our mind. There is a piece of the pie that represents “things we know that we know” and a piece of the pie that represents “things we know we DON’T know”. The rest of the pie is made up of “things out there that we DON’T know we DON’T know”. Most people focused their life exploring and sticking to the two pieces of their pie that they “know” and they are afraid to tread on to the un-chartered territory of exploring what they don’t know they do not know. For many years in my life, I had been guilty of doing that very same thing. Focusing on what is safe grounds to me, afraid of making that leap into the realm of what is unbeknownst to me. Coming face to face with my mortality when I was diagnosed with cancer was what it took for me… The result of letting go and taking risks was amazing…
Here are some quotes that speaks to the train of thought:
“The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you. Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”
~ William Jennings Bryan
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. “
~ Robert F. Kennedy
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~ Mark Twain
As the result of my life experiences, I’ve taken vows of integrity, to be open and give love and to take risks. I understand that this is incongruous to majority behavior but a famous poet Robert Frost once said… “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I… I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” That is the way I would like to live. I don’t want to have any regrets. If today is to be my last day, I can honestly say to myself, I have said all there is to say and not held back on anything. I have stayed true to my heart in spite of the vulnerability that comes with wearing one’s heart on their sleeves and I don’t regret it. Better that than wonder what could’ve been “had I taken that chance”.
Honestly, to date, I got to say that although the vows I’ve taken had generated it’s fair share of pain and heartbreaks and at times I’ve had doubts and wondered if I should give up…; Many people are not able to let go and take risks… whether professionally, personally or emotionally. I can’t seem to get myself to give up because there is a sense of exhilaration that comes with the exploratory process and letting go of “control” and letting go of attempts to “project potential outcomes” which is never going to go as planned to begin with. I endeavor to seek out “the rest of the pie” and I hope that you will take that leap with me!
I will leave you on the note of:
“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return. “
~ Leonard da Vinci
Lunch break over….Until the next time my friends… xoxo
