365 Days of Wonderful – Day 13
Today I am grateful to be tuned into my own heart. Sometimes the messages are so clear, and so hard to listen to. Sometimes we need to make changes, and we know that we need to do it. And it is hard to listen to our own heart. We get tangled up in our lives, our choices, and we begin to doubt ourselves.
It takes tremendous courage to make change happen. The word courage comes from the Latin root cor, which means heart. The definition of courage is to have the ability to do something that frightens you. To me, this means that courage comes from the heart. How beautiful is that? I am grateful to know that when we take empowered action, to move away from something that we don’t want, and move toward something that we do, we build momentum.
My mother taught me how to face my fears, and summon courage when I was 4 years old. I had a play room that was at the top of a long flight of stairs. I went up there one day, and when I opened the door, something crashed, and it scared me. I ran down the stairs to my mother’s side, frightened of what was in the room. It seemed as if there was a BIG MONSTER in the room–the crash was that BIG!
My mother took my hand and we walked up the stairs, one step at a time, because that is all my little legs could do. It seemed like the longest climb. My heart was racing. I was certain that we might perish if we opened the door. After all, there was a BIG MONSTER in there!!! My mother took the door knob, and pushed the door open… and no monster. The room looked just like my playroom. But I was not convinced.
My mother diligently went through the room, and we looked in cupboards, together we looked systematically around the room, all the while she kept holding my hand. She was willing to look for that BIG MONSTER, and be there with me until we located it. Interestingly, I found a little lizard. I loved lizards. So we caught it, and we made a little box for it out of an old milk carton with a nylon over the end. We also found a Lego board, the big square, flat thing that you can construct Legos on–it had fallen over. My mother explained that some times when you open a door that the air in the room changes with the opening of the door.
To me the lizard was very symbolic. I imagined that there had been a BIG MONSTER on the other side of the door. But when I summoned the courage, and with the help and encouragement of my mom, I was able to face my fears. And you know what… The BIG MONSTER was really a little lizard.
When we keep the door closed our imaginations create the biggest, scariest pictures. We see all the reasons to stay safe, behind the closed door. No one really wants to face the BIG MONSTER–that seems crazy.
Many people stay stuck–because it is easier to play it safe. We get stuck in patterns of behavior. Our friends and family, sometimes our partners are more comfortable with the way it is. It is like a well worn path. To make a change, and hack a new path in the jungle is hard. When we strike out in a new direction, it may challenge our sense of love, safety, and belonging. Which may feel like the proverbial Big Monster…
Sometimes we have to remember to put on our oxygen mask first. Take care of ourselves first, and open the door to look directly at our fears. It is not until we realized that the change we need to make may well be the very thing to save our own life. This is it–this one life. You can stay stuck. Or you can choose to hack a new path, and know that with courage, persistence, and determination, that new path will open new possibilities, and a new life. I am so grateful to realize that growth and change are the really the only way forward.
I am grateful that the courage I need is in my heart. I am grateful to know that I possess the strength to face my fears. I am super grateful that my mother taught me that often what seems like a Monster–is just a sweet little lizard.
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365 Days of Wonderful – A Gratitude Practice for shifting the way that we think, and re-framing life with a slant toward the positive.
I’m a Transformational Life Coach. I know that we each have the power to change our life for the better. The whispers of our soul, and yearnings of our heart are like our map and the compass. You know the way. Let’s go there.
If you’d like to listen to your heart, I offer a 90 minute Empower Wonderful You Clarity Session–for free. You can message me, or visit my website.
Blessings. _____________ Individual Inquiry: Is there an area of your life where you want to make a change, but feel stuck? Is there a BIG MONSTER in your mind–all the reasons why you “can’t” or “shouldn’t”? What does your heart want, when you really listen to it? What steps can you take to heed it’s call?