More than anything, fear blinds, and only by stepping without hesitation
into the next inch of the unknown can we build confidence
in the life we are about to live.
– Mark Nepo (The Book of Awakening)
In recent weeks, I’ve been writing about taking a radical step, going for it, taking your gifts to the world. While working on another project, I came across this blog post from September 21, 2010 – exactly two years ago. It speaks so clearly to this theme that I thought it was worth adapting and sharing again.
It never ceases to amaze me how just taking a step can transform energy. This is especially amazing to me when the primary energy has been fear. Fear comes up a lot for me when I am about to take a step forward into something new – a new place to travel, a new way of working, a new project or program – it can be anything that I haven’t done before. I’m really good at lots of things and my confidence is high as long as I’m within my comfort and security zone. Yet when I am faced with something new, sometimes that confidence eludes me.
But here’s the really amazing part: when I engage the unknown and take the step, the fear itself begins to transform. That’s not to say that I won’t still be on edge, but as soon as I take a step into the new experience, I start to breathe easier. I find myself saying, “Well, this isn’t so bad after all.” And most of the time I end up wondering why I have made such a big deal out of it!
Soul loves adventure. Ego doesn’t like it at all. Soul will go to great lengths to take us to new places and stretch us. Ego will go to even greater lengths to keep us in a place it considers “safe.” This doesn’t mean that soul is good and ego is bad. It just means that at the moment they have conflicting agendas. My job is to remember that this inner conflict is natural. It’s just soul and ego each doing their jobs the best way they know how. I also need to remember to take the time to listen to ego for a bit to see what it needs so that I can help it feel safe enough to go forward. In the end, it’s my choice as to whether I allow soul or ego to have the final say.
Soul usually wins out. I take a step forward, engage the unknown, and am ultimately so grateful that I did. The fear transforms, and once again I ask myself, “So what was the big deal?”
Soul and ego can actually become amazing co-creative partners if we are willing to invest some time in developing that partnership. I’ve written about the Soul-Ego Partnership in Create A World That Works and The Manifestation Wheel. There is also a short e-book, Soul and Ego: The Fundamental Partnership, available in our Store. But if for the moment you would like a “crash course” in building this inner partnership, you can watch the 10-minute video below from a workshop.
To use Mark Nepo’s words, “step without hesitation into the next inch of the unknown.” It’s the only way we grow. It’s the only way we live into our extraordinary potential.
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