By Cindy Yantis
Gazing at a full moon creates a sense of wonder, not only about who or what might live there, but also about what lies beyond it. It gets me thinking about the Unknown and how it effects our day-to-day. The prospect of stepping into the Unknown can bring on excitement, anticipation, fear or terror in varying degrees or all at once.
As we strive to raise the level of our own playing fields we will continually approach and cross the threshold to the Unknown.
To my way of thinking, it’s the actual threshold that has a tendency to hold us back. It’s the threshold that can symbolize the self-imposed barriers that keep us from forging into the Unknown. Mostly likely they are barriers born in fears that from past moments, past behaviors and experiences, past outcomes. They were in the past, not in the present threshold moment.
A threshold is by definition “an entrance or a doorway.” It is also the “place or point of beginning; the outset.” And, to take it further, a threshold is “the point that must be exceeded to begin producing a given effect or result or to elicit a response.”
And, if you break it down, the Unknown in this reference means “it” just hasn’t happened yet. So, crossing the threshold into the unknown simply means beginning something that hasn’t happened yet. If you think about it with that scaled down perspective, forging into the unknown is like everything we do, every second of every day, because every moment is new and hasn’t happened before.
Marianne Williamson says that “we either move in the direction of fear or we move in the direction of love.” It’s a choice. When you approach an unknown, whether it’s a new scary project, or a request for help, or a huge job opportunity, take a breath as you approach and reach that threshold moment. Ask yourself which choice you are going to make, one of fear which will likely keep you stagnate, or one of love which will propel you and give you forward momentum.
Listen to the wisdom of your body. It knows the difference between the love and the fear. That gentle inner voice always chooses love.
- Do a sense-memory exercise. Think back to a time when you were completely fearless, when you had no inhibitions. What did it feel like? Remember the ease, the effortlessness?
- Feel called to break the rules. Say it out loud, “I release the urge to play it safe.”
- Let go of the need to be right.
- Take the first step, every day. Then, another. Then, another.
- Don’t try. Do.
- State your self-beliefs as a creed, or manifesto. “What I have to offer I offer with love. I am not cookie cutter. I’m unique. I have an unusual power. I’m good at forming my own communities. I make valuable contributions as a leader, a storyteller, a communicator. I am fearless.”
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Yes, even when you make the choice to move in the direction of love as you forge into the unknown, it may still seem scary. But, it’s only because you haven’t done it yet.
It may still seem scary. But, do it anyway.
Forge into the Unknown with knowingness that it’s no longer unknown.
Cindy Yantis is the ThoughtChangerBlog.com owner and curator. She is a writer and storyteller living in Los Angeles. For more info, visit CindyYantis.com. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.
Leave a comment