The circus just arrived in town, and the clowns were riding on unicycles – going forward and backwards, fast and slow, and all around the ring. We were just kids with a dream, a vision – to ride a unicycle. A friend of mine had one, so I hopped on, ready to imitate the circus act, only to find that in order to keep upright, I had to go faster and faster—until I crashed into a fence. I have to laugh; the scar is there to this day, almost a half-century later!
That day I “learned” that to step out on a vision or dream with my whole heart was risky. A caution that has been both a help and a hindrance entered into every decision to act. I am sure you are smiling (and then frowning), remembering something similar that shaped how you approached your life from then on.
Today is the day we can see that we took risk with no skill, not that risk should be avoided! Repeat after me: Risk with skill applied with persistence leads to success.
Now let’s look at why this is true. When we fall or fail, our minds automatically categorize the event as harmful to us because of what physically and/or emotionally happens to us (a small disclaimer here – I am not a doctor, only a practitioner of life and experience).
We become preprogrammed to avoid similar “looking” situations. So if we don’t confront the thought that was planted in our mind, it grows into the shrub of caution, only to mature into a tree of aversion or fear. Most of these experiences happened in our childhood, and most of us were not trained in this area.
Add to this the lack of skill – like me thinking a unicycle would be as easy as a bicycle! This becomes a double whammy because we believe, falsely, that skill is native talent. We learn as we grow older that skill can be learned with repetition.
Or some of us might have attributed the failure to the dream or vision being too big, so we unconsciously hold back, never giving our all. Again, this is a thought that was planted as a seed and watered many times by the concern of those that cared for us, cautioning us to “be careful.”
So many of us begin our adult life with these three strikes against us and cannot figure out how to get to our dreams and goals. First we need to understand that what we put in the potting soil of our minds sends roots into our hearts, which breed beliefs in what we can or cannot do.
How to break the cycle? One trick I used was to observe and write down all the thoughts that passed through my mind, particularly when faced with a risk or possibility of failure or rejection. The thoughts themselves revealed the belief.
How do you change the belief? Ah, that requires a willingness on our part to seek out the situation where we first experienced the limiting belief. Believe me; it will end up with a person! But there is a “round-up” that can be applied to the source of the beliefs and thoughts – forgiveness.
If you believe the stories and testimonies of those that have done so, it works to the transformation of their lives. It is not the emotion of forgiveness, but a conscious decision to forgive that acts like roundup applied to the belief, the cause of belief, and the thought itself.
I believe in you! Join those who have applied forgiveness, and take back your dreams, visions, and ability to take a risk.
Make an impact on the lives of those around you that only you can do, through forgiveness.
p.s. Could you do me a favor? Share this with your friends and add a comment below. Thank you so much and may YOU be blessed today! Connect on Facebook and share your success and victory!
Mother of two amazing adults, business owner, cook, and writer are only a few of the countless hats Joy Randall wears each day. She is an overcomer and achiever who “walks the walk”. Joy has brought joy the lives of many with her smile, words of encouragement, writing, and belief in them when they have had none of their own.
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Joy, this is soooo TRUE!!! You really did a fantastic job explaining it!! Keep up the great work!