Recently I was faced with two decisions. Both where almost the exact same fork in the road, even though one was personal and one was business. It was pretty clear that one road was the comfortable path, perfectly paved, easy-breezy and well-known by myself and others that were involved in each decision. The other road was a rocky, unpaved road with many unknowns, potential surprises and fear.
Most people will tell you to take the easy-breezy path, and when you are looking at the challenging, unknown road you don’t want to feel foolish for taking it. But, there is always that spark that says maybe I should do it —maybe I could look at it as an adventure. Then suddenly, a cloud of fear engulfs you and you quickly talk yourself out of it because the “Fear Monger” raises its head and gives you all the reasons that you should not even consider the challenging unknown road.
There are always compelling reasons to play it safe. Personal responsibilities, fear of looking foolish, fear that you might lose everything you’ve worked for or that you might risk your reputation. It becomes such a whirlwind of thoughts against the challenging unknown that it just becomes overwhelming and you start chipping away at the challenging unknown piece by piece, until you have convinced yourself that the easy-breezy path is the right path. Then voila! You take the easy-breezy path. And when you meet with friends and loved ones they are all glad you took the smart, easy-breezy road. It was best for everyone —your friends, your family and you are all comfortable with your decision.
I would have to admit that this scenario has played out many times for me. Taking the challenging unknown road is frightening because the rationale of the “Fear Monger” is absolutely overwhelming.
As I said above, I recently faced two decisions, both in a business and a personal situation. I was faced with this fork in the road. I pondered it. I took time to explore it, and let the “Fear Monger” in. A big “cloud of fear” engulfed me, because it was almost as if the two decisions where tied together.
People that know me, and that understood the situations I was dealing with, where all doing the “fear dance” all over me and doing a really good job of talking me out of taking the challenging road I was traveling. To help flush this out, I was using every tool I could imagine to help me with the decision. Meditation, prayer, church, psychics, dream analysis —you name it, I was doing it!
Let’s take a pause here… I want to know how many of you have experienced the very same set of circumstances? How many of you had two choices, one that was safe and easy and one that was a totally off-the-rails, dangerous, challenging unknown? How has it worked out? Have you ever thought about what would have happened if you had made a different choice? I really don’t like thinking about the past, so sorry for the question but I think you get the point.
So, with everything I was going through, I felt like I was bare-knuckling and I knew decision time was coming and I had to make a choice in both the personal and the business situations (if you can believe it, on the same day.) Once I made the choice there was no turning back. People definitely would be impacted —they would cringe and be surprised, probably even shocked. Yup, can’t make it up! The “cloud of fear” was getting darker and darker, stronger and stronger.
Then I asked myself one question —what is the decision that will impact the most people in a positive and uplifting way? Forget what everyone is saying, forget all of the fear. If there weren’t any of those fear-mongering thoughts, what is the right decision for the planet? What will impact it in the most positive way? If I am true to my purpose—of fighting the good fight for people and the planet—in this very moment, what is the right decision? I realized that if I consider myself to be the self-appointed “Warrior for People and the Planet” then the decisions are easy.
I made both decisions at the same time. It was scary-crazy and positively exhilarating! I feel more alive than I have in years. Yup, fear has been cast aside. I am going for the surprises, the adventure, and pushing the rocks and the dirt aside. Sleeping less, fired up on multiple fronts, and feeling like nothing could be more fun than taking this challenging unknown path.
Not to be cliche, but they say you are never to old to learn —and I have to tell you that this has been one of those experiences that I have to share, because no matter what happens, no matter what challenges overcome me, no matter if I trip and fall, the “Fear Monger” is gone.
There is no place left for any of the fear mongering types in my path because this path is full of something I had almost forgotten and that is “The Adventure of LIFE!” There is no longer room for fear.
So, if this resonates with you, when are you going to say no to the easy-breezy choices in front of you and start savoring the challenging unknowns in your own life? Leave the “Fear Monger” behind.
Fear no more—
AZ
