My teammate Heather is working with me on some “clean-up” projects. She’s reworked our Sponsorship Packages, she’s redesigned event pages, she’s interviewed new team members to fill new roles. She’s organized and insanely productive. It’s been incredible. Recently some of our conversations have been comical. She’ll shoot me a text with the words: “Out of an abundance of caution. . .” and I respond with something about “Out of a wha-wha?” We laugh, then I whisper gratitude for having her in my life. She sees the vision, and she’ll leap to get there, but she takes calculated leaps.
I tend to dance on the edge.
My comfort zone is usually a little beyond that of others around me. I’ve always thought, calculations just weren’t my thing. But it’s funny how life changes you as you get older and a little wiser. Even if you don’t want it to, your brain jumps in and calculates your safety, based on past experiences. Then it fires off messages of warning. “Danger! Danger!”
And then, you must make a choice.
You have to acknowledge those messages, but you can’t stop there. You literally can’t stop. You then have to make the conscious decision to weigh them against your passions, dreams, hopes, and desires. All the things that make you a human instead of a lizard, and keep you contributing to the world. Then even if safety isn’t guaranteed, sometimes you just have to leap. You have to decide that living fully is more important than staying “safe”.
Because it turns out, that safety is never guaranteed.
There are so many things in my life, right at this moment, that are beyond even my comfort zone. In fact, there are a couple of scenarios that have me feeling like I took the leap, and I’m suspended in mid-air waiting to see what happens next. It’s not comfortable. It’s exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
But I know, this is where the good stuff happens.
It’s true for you too. Our comfort zones are all in different places, but it’s up to you to push yourself to find the edge. Do the calculations, of course. Gain an understanding of the possible outcomes, absolutely. Then you must decide if the change you seek is worth the risk. If you have a hunch it is, there’s only one way to find out.
You’ve got to take that leap.
Maybe you’ll learn to fly. Maybe you’ll learn to swim. Maybe you’ll learn to climb.
But no matter what, you’ll find out that’s where a better life begins.
to more love & leaping,
Crystal
