Do you feel afraid to take a leap to achieve your goals? Good news- you may not have to! Like many of us, I often think that achieving my goals requires me to take a huge, dramatic leap. Maybe quit my job and move to the mountains? For others, it might be to go from being a junk food junkie to a health nut in a day or to spend hours a day being creative, doing yoga, or meditating. This is a trick the ego uses to keep us stuck. Many years ago a dear friend put it this way, “We think our lives are shaped by huge decisions, they aren’t. They are shaped by the tiny decisions we make every day.”
It doesn’t take a leap, just a step
Sometimes, I may not even know where exactly where I want my journey to go. Instead, the step forward is just a tug of desire. Often this tug is followed by an inner voice that says, “that’s stupid!” Again, that is my ego. That is the part of me that fears change. Who wants to keep my current ideas about myself, even if I am ready to outgrow them. It is the part of me that thinks if I can’t see the entire path, the path doesn’t exist. The truth is, even when I think I know exactly the way things need to go, I’m rarely right. The Universe inevitably has surprises in store. These aren’t wrenches thrown in the works, although they sometimes feel that way. They are more like guideposts, redirecting me in ways I couldn’t imagine.
A “silly” desire
One example of a seemingly pointless pull that was anything but happened early this year. I had been considering ways that I could further my education and expand my business. I considered several options, but none were quite right, leaving me disappointed and frustrated. Then, I had a dream where everywhere I went there were children climbing trees. They appeared so many times that I said in the dream, “This must be important.” The next day I was on a workshop where another participant said she had gone out that morning and climbed a tree. I was envious and had a sudden desire to go climb a tree. A part of me thought, “That’s silly.” I thought about how I’d look crazy if anyone saw me, how I might get hurt if I fell. Yet the dream made me second guess this voice.
Taking the climb was taking a leap
I went to a nearby park, and after wandering for a while found a tree suitable for climbing. It wasn’t easy. It had been at least twenty-five years since I’d been in a tree. Slowly, I climbed higher. Then I stayed up there for a while, proud of myself for having done it and enjoying the forest from a different vantage point. I climbed down, and as my feet reached the ground I suddenly thought about a paper I’d written in college about forest bathing. I wondered if there was a way to incorporate that into my business.
That thought led me to find and complete my training as a Certified Forest Therapy Guide. There was no linear reason that I needed to climb a tree. I couldn’t have guessed that doing so would lead to the answer I sought. Yet, by trusting a seemingly silly desire, I was lead to where I needed to go. Following our spontaneous desires feels scary. One of my biggest inspirations in this area is author, Tama Kieves. She offers self-care practices that will help you discover your creative, guided self in “3 Self-care Practices to Help with Burnout & Rediscover your Creativity“.
A step is all you need
So whether your step is one you already feel will take you in the direction of your goals, or is just a gentle tug toward a seemingly pointless joy. You don’t need to take a leap, one step is all you need to take. It’s ok if you can’t imagine completing the whole journey. It’s even ok if you have no idea where the journey is going. Just taking a small step toward joy can change everything.
