You cannot swim for new horizons until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

Trying to make a significant change in your life requires a determination and fortitude that is perhaps unparalleled by anything that you have undertaken previously.

This perspective relates to all of the major changes including career, relationship, education and others. Most people lack the courage to make the big leap, leaving themselves in a life of compromise and lack of the greater fulfillment that comes with a willingness to embrace that deep, inner desire that wants to propel us into new chapters. 

So what is the determining variable that facilitates some people and their wish for change versus others who are going to remain steadfast in a position of known comfort? What is the proverbial fire in the belly that awakens that deeper desire within and teaches us to find the courage to step up and make that giant leap into the unknown?

Part of it stems from upbringing, to be certain. If we have grown up around role models who demonstrate to us that these choices take courage, but they have immense opportunity to pay off, we are perhaps more prone to be willing to find that impetus within ourselves to accelerate into the unknown.

Conversely, the opposite is equally true. Many people find the courage to accelerate into the unknown because they have grown up in a world of stagnation and they are unwilling themselves to live a life of perpetual discomfort and disappointment.

Once that courage has been found, there is the point of departure to which there is no return. That giant leap of faith is usually the line of demarcation as to which side of this decision your heart truly stands within.

It is at that moment that your core truth is revealed and your deepest desire is capable of propelling you into making a life transformation of unparalleled magnitude. In the course of making this leap, we are usually surrounded by the full spectrum of emotions from courage to trepidation and in this briefest of moments, our deeper, inner self awakens and takes charge.

We recognize that even with the huge fear that comes with making a choice of this magnitude, it will clearly outweigh the fear that stems from being forced to live a life of disappointment and regret. It is at that moment of decision that our entire life hangs in the balance. Finding the courage to believe in yourself is an acquired skill. Presumably those earlier steps that you have taken on the road to this moment have given you extra fortitude to see this new chapter as achievable, therefore enabling you to make the most crucial decision in your life to date.

So you take the plunge. And all of a sudden you are in the deep blue ocean. Where there was once a sandy bottom for you to step on and take a respite, there is now only a void. It is dark, unknown, fearful and cause for anxiety. Simultaneously, it is joyful, adventurous, stimulating and cause for celebration.

As you are wrestling with these combined feelings, it is most wise to compartmentalize the fear and recognize that you have already made the leap. The chances of returning back to safe Harbor are relatively slim, so the only path to safety is swimming for the new shore.

In the course of that swim, my advice is to swim with good humor. Inevitably there will be setbacks, opportunities for you to find cause for regret and stimulation that wants to send you crawling back to where you came from. I embrace these moments as paper Tigers that are luminous in their presence, but harmless in their overall impact. When I encounter one of them, I inevitably have that same knee-jerk reaction of fear and trepidation, then I take inventory and look the danger straight in the face. You gain tremendous strength by stopping and staring fear straight in the face.

When this happens, you are able to recognize what makes this fear a paper tiger. At that moment, you are empowered to break straight through it and keep swimming. A devout belief in oneself is a omnipowerful. That belief will certainly catapult you long beyond anywhere you thought you were capable of going. At some point, look backwards just to see how far you have come, for in that action you are further empowered to recognize how much further you are really capable of going. At that moment, you awaken to a higher self and that is the being that enables you to swim to your new destinations. Never stop believing in yourself. You are the reason that you have come so far and you are the reason that you are going to get where you have determined you are going. 

Happy Tuesday!

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