Beware your imagination…..

Sit and ‘think’ about something for too long and if you’re anything like me, you can talk yourself into doing something and right back out of it again. If you are like me you can do this several times over and perhaps explore a few more options, and, in the end, do none of them. …….. To put an end to this exhausting and futile use of energy, taking action, any action, is inevitably the solution. 

It is because we have intelligence that we can see the up and the down sides and the ‘ins’ and the ‘outs’ of all the options we are considering. It is because we have big brains the we can create whole stories in our heads about what might or might not happen. And do you know what? Unless we step out of the door and actually do the ‘thing’, then we have absolutely no way of knowing what the outcome will truly be. Once we have eliminated the obvious pitfalls, we just have to risk ‘it’ if we want to know the answer. 

I spent a few days revisiting my past in the week, meeting with old friends, visiting old haunts, laying old ghosts to rest. What I learnt was that I could not for the life of me have legislated for the outcomes of each event. Some were much more glorious than I could have imagined, some didn’t even touch me, and one shook me to the core, and, what I learned, was that dealt with it all. I have laughed and cried and grown a little more resilient and accepting of all of it. 

The paradox is that I was much more frightened sitting in a safe place and imagining what might happen than I was in situ. When the sh*t did the fan I simply did just what was needed, time after time. Whereas the stories I wrote in my head of the ‘what ifs’ had increasing power over me the longer I sat with them. When I put one ‘what if’ aside, another immediately took its place. Ironically, sitting in an entirely protected space I was allowing my brain to traumatise me. When we have a thought, our bodies respond accordingly. Sitting and triggering the ‘fight or flight hormone’ to take its well worn course around my body repeatedly must verge on insanity……

So with hindsight I believe its best to just get out there and do ‘it’. After 4 decades of evidence that I can indeed cope with whatever is thrown at me, why would I sit and allow my own brain do such unnecessary harm! Courage has great rewards, greater then we can ever imagine, so quit indulging your big brain and get out there and take the risk. Who knows what gifts will come your way ……
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