Are you currently following the path of least resistance? Well here is some advice my friend – you are on the wrong path! Turn right, turn left or turn around! Or maybe…just maybe…JUMP!
We all have natural gifts and abilities that we are born with that assist us in living our life purpose. If we are using those life becomes easy. But most of us just brush them aside, thinking “everyone can do that” or else not even realizing them in the first place. If you are living your purpose now, then most likely you are living on the edge – and that is exactly where you want to be! If you aren’t then let me help you get there…
The 2 key questions to ask yourself are:
1) Am I excited about doing this?
2) Am I scared as hell to take the next step?
If you answered YES to both of these questions, then you know what you need to do – whatever is exciting and terrifying at the same time!
My son recently left to travel the world alone with a backpack for a minimum of 6 months, possibly a year. As a mother, all I really wanted to say was “Don’t go! There could be danger! Just stay here and live your life!” But as he was planning his adventure he mentioned to me that he was both SO EXCITED and also SO SCARED at the same time. So there was the answer: “Then you HAVE to do it!” Not that I had to tell him that, he already knew. I guess I just really needed to hear myself say it out loud so it resonated in me. Thank goodness for Skype and his travel blog justinstravels.com! That helps the mom in me stay sane! And I am so proud of him for listening to his heart and doing what he knows he needs to do. I have no doubt he will find what he is looking for and more!
My wonderful personal coach, Andrrea Hess, says that most of us on the planet are merely living our lives in a way that will get us safely to death. And I must admit that I was one of those people! When I felt fear, I would recoil into the safety of just getting through with the tools I had at the time. This usually meant not doing anything that was challenging or scary. But that is indeed, what we need to do if we are to do our work in this world and live our purpose with passion!
Right now I am getting ready to become a speaker, to teach classes and hold workshops. I am very excited as I feel very drawn to doing this. The thought of being able to share my work with more than one person at a time really does make me jump out of bed in the morning to put together ideas! But I am also pretty frightened at the same time. All the what ifs: what if no one shows up, what if my brain goes dead and I can’t speak, what if I have nothing to say (when I mention that to my husband he just rolls his eyes and asks me to PLEASE quit talking so much!)
But I’m putting it off. I’m not jumping at the chance to find a venue or discuss it with people I know would be interested. This is as much resistance as anything. I’m trying to talk myself out of what I want to do, to come up with excuses why I can’t or shouldn’t do it at all. If it was truly meant to happen, it would easily come, right? I wouldn’t have to give it much effort; it would just happen naturally and organically. NO! We need to have the challenges to feed our soul. We need to jump off of the path of least resistance and also jump off the ledge.
“Come to the edge.”
“We can’t. We’re afraid.”
“Come to the edge.”
“We can’t. We will fall!”
“Come to the edge.”
And they came.
And he pushed them.
And they flew.
~Guillaume Apollinaire
If you already know what your life purpose is, then that is a great start. However, you still need to take the scary trail through the woods once in a while to feed the passion. To keep it exciting to you. To keep growing and moving forward. To not be stuck in “moving safely towards death” because really – what fun is that?
If you are unsure of your life purpose just take a look at all the things you would do for free if you won the lottery, or if money was not an issue for you. Make a list and add in all the things you wanted to do when you were a child. What did you want to be when you grew up? Are you that? What are your hobbies, the things you do to feed your spirit right now? Keep listing things until you can almost hear your heart sing. Until you are brought to tears. That is what it is! Then imagine what the next step would be to make that a reality in the current phase of your life. Make another list for these things. When you get to an answer that scares you or seems impossible then guess what? BINGO!
I’ve noticed this in my coaching program. A lot of times, people are genuinely excited to change their life in ways of their health, relationships or abundance but then the fear stops them. They get stuck in resistance to taking that step to make a commitment to the process. They tell themselves a story, I don’t have enough time right now, I don’t have the money, and who would I be if I stripped away who I have been all my life? They decide they are ok with the way their life is, when in fact they would not have even considered doing it if this were true. They take the path of least resistance and travel safely towards death. When I have a client commit, I know that the coaching will work for them without a doubt. I know that they have realized their value on the planet and they are actively “jumping off the ledge” and plowing through the fear. Embracing the challenge and racing to get through to the other side.
Live your life excited every day! Don’t be afraid of what may be lurking around the corner. And for goodness sake – get off the path of least resistance!
