Are You Willing?
by Leslie Sann
Willingness opens the door to all life’s possibilities. ~ Byron Katie
Here we are at the beginning of the year. An arbitrary measuring device that we make good use of it. What do you want to create this coming year? Big things? Little things? Improved health? Increased income? Greater enjoyment of family?
Perhaps you wisely wrote down your intention. Good move. Claiming where you want to go. And then, Oh NO! HOW am I going to make THAT happen!
When we see where we are in contrast to where we want to be, it can seem like vast uncharted territory. We often contract into fear and yearn to stay in the familiar, the comfort zone.
Getting to the edge of the zone of the known will provoke the Mind Monsters. Those pesky thoughts that want to keep things as they are. Better safe than risk failure or something worse! They begin to crawl out from under the bed telling you to stay tucked in. No need to go out to do what it takes. You’ll never make it happen. It’s too much!
The Monsters don’t want you to grow. They want you to stay the same, quaking in your boots. Better yet, in bed with the covers over your head. Boo!
What are these Mind Monsters you may ask? They are those inner voices that seem to rear up bigger than Life, taunting you to stay put and not grow into next. You can hear them in your head yelling, oh no! OH NO! The sky is falling. They tell you what you should or shouldn’t do. They imagine the future and tell you that you can’t handle it. They look into the past and they are full of regret and woe. They don’t want you to step out of your comfort zone. Don’t go! DON’T GO!, they yell. Stay put and let me torture you with confusion and doubt.
Would you like a tool that quells the Monsters and has them scurrying back into the shadows of nothingness from which they came?
I thought you’d say yes.
The Power Tool that you already possess is your willingness. Willingness opens us to learning. Willingness allows us to move towards possibility. Willingness makes room for guidance and support.
What is it to be willing? According to Webster it is 1) being favorably disposed to do something specified; 2) choosing without reluctance; 3) acting, giving, readily and cheerfully; 4) of the power of choice; volitional.
It doesn’t matter if you are scared or excited. What matters is that you are willing. Once you become willing, your dream, your goal, your commitment will pull you forward. Your willingness will guide you to those action steps that will take you to your desired outcome.
You don’t have to know how to make what you want happen. All that is required is that you are willing. The willingness sets you up for learning. It moves you into action. It guides your discovery of how.
Notice what you experience when you declare, “I am willing to do whatever it takes to bring my goal (dream, commitment), into reality?” You may notice a tangible physical response. Racy, queasy, butterflies stirring in the belly come with the territory.
When we get to the edge of our comfort zone and step out of it, we are, by definition, going to be uncomfortable. The Monsters stick their head out from under the bed. You could see the discomfort and the Monster Mind as feedback that you are on course. On course in moving toward your intended destination.
I’m in the process of writing my second book. At the beginning of the month I took myself on a 5-day solitary retreat so I could be fully engaged in the writing process. One afternoon as I’m writing I notice the Monsters speaking in the background. “Boring!” one exclaimed. Another chimed in, “Do you really think anyone cares about this?” And so on. It wasn’t pretty or encouraging.
At first I was taken aback. The voices had momentarily destabilized me. Then I righted myself, realizing that no matter what they said I was going to finish the book. I was willing. I was in action. I was determined. As I moved into the clarity of my commitment, the voices went silent.
If we really want what we want, we must become willing to do, be and have whatever it takes. Including the willingness to be uncomfortable, to not know, to make mistakes, to keep taking action as we travel towards our goal.
Remember the first step is to be willing. Your willingness will bring you the ability.
Are you willing to do what it takes to become the person you yearn to be, the person who is living a life of your own design?
Are you willing to own your life as a creative work in process, and yourself as the artist calling it into reality?
Are you willing to commit to live by design rather than by default?
Are you willing?
Blessings and Peace,