The unknown can be frightening. In fact, the unknown can be so frightening that it can leave us feeling immobilized, craving the old and familiar, and romanticizing what was. It can lead to moments of depression, feelings of anxiety and a constant questioning of why me?
Some people manage their fears of the unknown by keeping busy. Perhaps shopping, sleeping, eating, drinking, etc, whatever is necessary to stay distracted from the fears or worry that lie underneath. But worry is like a rocking chair; it will give you something to do, but won’t get you anywhere.
Often we think that we are moving in the right direction if we don’t sit down as much, spend more time at the gym, or more time fixing, cleaning and/or doing. Though this is technically moving, real movement in the direction of happiness will need to be mindful. With each step, you need to think about how your leg feels as it hits the ground, how the ground feels as you land upon it, how your body responds to the new moment upon you. Real movement should involve being acutely aware of what passes you by, what surrounds you as you move and what lies before you in wait. There should be steady, yet constant movement.
But what if you have no idea what is next or where you will land?
So what.
You don’t have to know where you are going next; you merely have to be committed to the movement itself. If you actually knew where you were going, you would no longer be in a place of unknown, but in a place of actually landing. You will get there; everyone does, but only when it is time. Until then, it is about following your intuitions, rediscovering what makes you happy and continuing to move in a place that feels good. Then keep the faith that you will know you are there, once you have arrived. Not a moment before…
We have ignored our intuitive feelings for far too long and now, in place of discovering what is next, we need to start listening to what has been in our hearts all along. When you were a child it was simple. You knew what you wanted and you either went and got it or asked someone to get it for you. Yet as you grew older it wasn’t quite that simple. What once began as fulfilling your needs, easily fell into what others around you needed, until eventually your needs, what made you feel happiest inside, began to get quieter. Your needs became about fulfilling their needs. Until eventually you became unclear what your needs even were. Or did you actually always know, but were willing to put those thoughts and needs away?
Perhaps it wasn’t about giving up your needs throughout your life at all, but about needing what you needed in that time period and then awakening one day to a whole new set of needs. Perhaps you had formed your life around those needs, and it actually made you feel happy and complete inside, until it didn’t anymore. Or maybe, due to the passing of time, it was just time for change.
It doesn’t matter how yesterday showed up or how it once looked, or what you did until this moment. It doesn’t even matter if you were happy during that time, or completely unhappy. Either way, transitioning into what is next, can show up as quite a challenge, with moments of excitement, filled in with moments of worry.
Worrying means you have lost faith.
In order to create change, or transition into something that is new, you need to have faith that it will all work out just as it is supposed to.
The first step in transitioning into something new is to be prepared.
1 - Have a complete plan of how you would like to get started.
2 – Plan what steps you can follow as you go.
3 – Create a timeline of when you will complete and/or attempt things.
4 – Design a picture of what you would like it to look and feel like when you arrive.
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