Intentionally putting a “…” after this question to show that some deep thought is required here. Chances are that at some point in our life, most of us have a dream, project or passion that we haven’t gone for. I could write an entire book on the amount of things I’ve wished to do that I have not yet done.
And on the contrary, most of us have also experienced in our lives that unstoppable motion where confidence and momentum join together, possibly with a sense of belief, and propel you forward at an unbelievable speed – here, it doesn’t matter what comes your way. Somehow you just transcend it.
Now the danger of this question is that one might think this is the way you should be at every given moment – nothing should be able to stop you or get in your way. But there are valid, environmental issues that could stop us.
For an example:
– Time is finite. It doesn’t matter how much you feel unstoppable you can only do so much in a day.
– Money can also be restricting, as it is not a resource that is endlessly available.
– No opportunity presented is also a factor, or the opportunity that is dependent on another’s decision.
It’s important to remember these things, so that we don’t beat ourselves up every time our plans are halted by exterior and unexpected situations. We gotta give a little grace to ourselves.
BUT – a lot of the time the thing that is stopping us is not the external environment, but actually our internal condition.
I believe there is 2 root causes of our internal halting; and often they intertwine:
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FEAR - fear is paralysing. It stops us from boldly moving forward and often it has a lot to do with the way we want people to see us. How many things would we have done if we weren’t afraid?
- PRIDE – pride is different to fear but very related. It usually appears when you feel you need to protect your identity , ego or reputation, and therefore you fail to move into new and fresh spaces. It can also appear when one feels they are not the person who should be handling that specific matter..
Marianne Williamson mightily says, “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. ….”
When you find yourself feeling paralysed when you wish to feel momentum, you could ask yourself:
– what is the consequence of doing nothing here?
– what meaning am I giving this that it does not deserve?
– where do I need understanding?
– what do I need to know here?
– how do I make this playful?
The way through so much of our fear and pride is by asking good questions like these.
I love to use mantras to remind myself not to be halted because of fear or pride. If I am feeling fearful, I say something along the lines of, “You are capable of this … you are fearfully and wonderfully made.” If i am feeling prideful, I say, “All of us are a part of this great universe. We are all equal beings”
We want to be unstoppable. We want to be confident. We want to have momentum. This is a beautiful place to be in; we can’t have it in every area of our life but we must choose where it is most needed and focus on this.
In the end, it’s really just about stepping up, looking these two horrible cousins in the eyes, and pushing back…