I am usually a very decisive person. I follow my gut and that’s the end of it. Looking back to my early adulthood this was a good and a bad thing. I would often tire of something quickly and think, that yep, the grass IS greener at a different college. Or, I have accomplished what I need to accomplish at this job, so it is for sure time for a new challenge somewhere else.
Being too quick to abandon one thing for another isn’t always the best course of action, and pretty much proven not to be good for your bank account or building a 401K. But being too afraid is not great either. At a certain point in life, you get comfortable. You have a mortgage, you are almost done paying off your student loans, and your kids are eating all of your groceries before the bags have even been unpacked. You have a steady flow of money coming in and an equally, if not greater, flow of money going out.
So what do you do? Nothing. You are immobilized. The thought of taking a risk in life, whatever that may be, makes you feel a little itchy and nauseous. When that happens, you start to become indecisive on pretty much everything: what to make for dinner, what type of curtain to buy for your living room, or what to order from Old Navy with your Super Cash.
EVERYTHING starts to feel overwhelming because you are ignoring what you need to do to move forward in life and essentially living in turmoil. It could be that next step in a relationship, forging out on your own with that business you have always wanted to start, or just plain venturing out of your own backyard for that vacation you never seem to have time for.
Sometimes you ignore your calling in life, or what you know will truly bring you joy in life, because you just plain don’t want to fail. It is easier to sit right here, right where you are at, and not do it. Not follow your heart. Not pursue your passions in life.
When you do that, when you try to keep things the same - life keeps moving on around you. Time keeps ticking forward. And there you are sitting in your worry and anxiety. This is not to say that you should follow every whim that hits you, but if you feel something consistently nagging at you - maybe that is a sign that you should make a move. Even if it is just a tiny little step in that direction.
With my life storytelling service, I have interviewed many people you would consider “risk takers” and what stands out to me with those that followed their calling: they were all very content with where their lives led them and have few regrets. They may have had hills and valleys to travel through, they had setbacks and failures, but they kept going and came out on the other side.
So my advice to you, and myself, in the words of my eleven year old son, “Let’s Go!”