I just now committed to a bold Yes. One of those Yes’s that all your friends say in their best London English, Why of Course! You must do this! For me it’s been 3 days of feeling the intensity of the fear of making the WRONG decision. I’ve spent hours contemplating all the possible choices and calculating all the possible impacts. I’ve reviewed my values, my purpose and the vision of my business. I’ve looked carefully at the risks and possible rewards of this innovative YES. Vividly, underneath all this valuable analysis, I’ve been experiencing intense fear. Primal fear of the change that this bold Yes will bring to the status quo of my life and business. I deeply resist the chaos that this change will usher in before I get to truly inhabit the next more resonant land that I have been envisioning all along.
Isn’t this how it goes? The call comes and we know we have to answer YES…and yet there is always “Trouble at the Border”. I’ve noticed this theme of “hesitation before the leap” in many of my client conversations this week. Does it come from the business culture that wanted us to be innovative YET taught us be cautious as mistakes can indeed jeopardize our careers? Does our success get in the way of our growth as there is so much more at risk with each yes? Do we unconciously know that there is so much more to lose if we are wrong???? Yet all of us, deep down yearn to say yes and silently regret those times when we back away.
Whatever we posess, we fear we might lose it if we step forward. Whenever we are thinking about me or mine, we are in the realm of the wounded ego. The ego which is desperately trying to control things, to keep us safe and protected and WAY smaller than what we are capable of being. In order to step forward into leading our lives and those we serve, we must get comfortable with the terrifying AND exhilarating process of moving through the fear and uncertainty that the ego throws up, toward what is truly calling.
When it comes to saying yes to our personal destiny, I love this line from the new movie, The Moses Code. “God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.” However you hold the presence of the divine, remember that this presence within us, is always calling us to expand into our greatest potential. It is calling us to change, create and innovate BOLDLY. When we say yes, it’s vital to remember that we are not yet the person or organization that will fulfill the call. We grow into it. Ahh, this is where the surrender and leap of faith must take place. This is why coaching support is essential. Left to our own devices it’s way too easy to stay small and protected. Then of course, the outcome, although we are protected, is often; poor, lonely and sad. The outcome of the YES…Exhilaration, change, abundance and growth.
Therefore, we retreat into the silence. We retreat into supportive coaching conversations. We discern the strong voice of the call to which, despite our full body fears…we must in the end answer boldly…YES!
Thank you to all who attended and contributed your mighty talents to the spring retreats. Together, we launched sparkling new projects. We smiled in recognition as we recounted our leadership stories of victory, defeat and yes, surrender. We created new visions while we sipped fine wine and savored dark chocolate. We cried, sighed, grieved, laughed and celebrated, A LOT. We drank muscular coffee and walked, piecing together what was trying to unfold. We embraced the chaos of change and courageously planned the next steps. We watched Tucker, the wonder dog, romp down the beach on moonlit nights breathing deeply the salty sea air. We did yoga together in the living room on sun drenched mornings after deep silent meditation. We watched the golden sun set as the eagles soared. As the tides ebbed and flowed, we found our Truth over and over again. When all was said and done, we did indeed shout YES… and then we crawled back into our soft feather beds and slept very, very well.
