You Were Born Ready!

You Were Born Ready

Do you believe it: you were born ready for anything? Imagine how much you have learned in your lifetime! With respect to navigating life on this planet Earth, you came into this world knowing very little. You could cry and breathe, sleep and nurse. Your body was a phenomenal machine able to process nourishment and reproduce at the cellular level. Beyond that, you learned how to talk and eat and behave. You learned how to express yourself and do math and play. You learned how to expand into more – and you learned how to shut yourself down. You learned how to believe in possibility and how to limit your options.

What if you believed you were born ready for anything — and — those things that you haven’t yet explored in this lifetime you are still ready for?

What would you attempt if you believed you could succeed?

(*) Check out more questions hiding behind the collage at https://www.songsforyourspirit.com/LifeCoachPromptsYouWereBornReady.php

 

What are you aware of now?

Over the years, I have been a strong proponent of journaling, of taking time to evaluate the personal, inner landscape to notice and resolve conflict, emotional blocks, leftovers. When this long pause is needed – go for it! Today I’d like to suggest adding a practice of real-time awareness. How present are you in your day-to-day, moment-by-moment experience? If, for example, you often find yourself:

  • saying yes when you mean no
  • making commitments you later wish you hadn’t
  • bored or with mind wandering
  • desperately needing that journaling time to come back to yourself

maybe it’s time to “return to this moment” and “this one” and “this one” and live it fully.

What are you aware of now?

What is “too far”?

“Unless you go too far, you don’t know how far you can go.” William Friedkin

Yet that means I might overstep my bounds, make a fool of myself, fall off the virtual cliff. I might make a mistake. Then what?

Then, I clean up any mess, take stock of what worked and what didn’t, and evaluate the last step that took me over the edge. Was it:

  • A mistake?
  • Too much too soon?
  • Right step, wrong place?
  • Critical for my learning?

Then what? You got it! Move on. Take the next step.

Where have you gone too far?
Where have you not gone far enough?
What is too far?

Baseball Part I: The Home Run

If you know a bit about baseball, you know that a home run means you’ve hit that ball out of the park and you score for the team without being challenged as you trot around the bases.

What does it take to hit that home run? Years of physical training and practice, concentration and focus, and a good read on that pitcher. It also takes a lot of:

  • swing and a miss
  • bunting
  • strike outs
  • walks
  • hits resulting in outs
  • base hits
  • getting to first on the other team’s error

In other words, that home run was preceded by many failures, minor successes, and some measure of the misfortune of others. I suspect it is also the result of good coaching and lots of attaboys!

What is your home run?
What effort are you willing to expend to get there?
What are you unwilling to experience along the way?

Stay tuned for Baseball Part II …

What will you risk?

“Progress always involves risk; you can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.” Frederick Wilcox

What qualities are present that allow the base runner to reach second? I imagine preparation of mind and body, trust in his or her ability, determination, willingness to fail as much as desire to succeed.

This quote shared another way suggests: You cannot sail across the ocean without losing site of the shore for a very long time. How does the ship captain prepare? He, too, studies, makes many shorter voyages in preparation. He gathers a team around him and ensures the body of his vessel is in great shape. The captain trusts his intuition and is determined to do anything to succeed. And, the voyage may fail as did the famous Titanic.

Both “left home” in order to risk landing on the other side.

What voyage are you facing?
What has you tied to first base?
What will you risk?
What if you fail?