What are you scared of?

Are you doing something everyday that scares you? If not, why not? If we were to be truly honest with ourselves, we all have aspirations and dreams that we would love to create in our lives. The unfortunate truth is most people are completely disconnected from where they currently are to where they would love their lives to be.  Many times even if people do know the path that must be taken, they let their egos keep them from pursuing their dreams.  They listen to that little voice in their head that says they aren't good enough, strong enough, you may fail, you may look stupid, it may challenge your previous beliefs and make you realize everything you've known and built your life on is no longer true.  Many people fall victim to the comfort of the known rather than be a truth seeker of the unknown. And the unknown is usually where the sweetest fruit is found.  

How would our lives look if we looked at the ego from a different perspective? What if we took everything that challenged our ego and state of being, and used it as an opportunity to confront and challenge our inner demons and fears as ways of reaching higher and higher levels of consciousness? What if this ego that many people view as bad, is actually there to serve us and provide endless opportunities for growth and fulfillment? Unfortunately, there is no cookie-cutter manual to joy and fulfillment.  It is available to anyone but so few will actually take on the lifelong challenge of discovering it. 

Today was a perfect illustration for me and I share the picture of the moment in this blog.  I was at yoga this morning which proved to be a very challenging class giving me opportunities to try new poses I have yet to do.  One such pose is where you start off in the Crow position where you balance on your hands with your legs off the ground balancing on the back of your arms.  Then you have to shift your body weight forward and bring your face to lightly kiss the ground.  If you lose your balance at this point, you face plant into the ground! From here, you use your arms and core strength to extend your legs in the air and form a 45 degree plank seen above.  It requires the physical strength to perform the pose as well as the mental courage to place your body in a vulnerable position where the threat of smashing your face into the ground is very real.  It was scary and exhilarating at the same time.  

We all have opportunities like these to test our strength and courage on a daily basis.  Whether it be our physical courage in our workouts, our spiritual courage in our faith and beliefs, our emotional courage in our relationships, our mental courage in our finances, business, and everyday life events, there are always opportunities to use our ego and the valuable information we are experiencing in those moments.  This information is usually in the form of emotions, feelings, and physiological changes that go on in our body.  That pit in the stomach is telling you something.  That surge of blood you feel exploding into your brain is telling you something.  Those butterflies you experience in your stomach are telling something.  Take this valuable information, stay present, and ask yourself what you can do to challenge yourself to a greater life.

Go ahead and take the leap.  What are you scared of? 

Love,

Matt