Are you a true -
Follow Your Heart Badass?
Here we go…
The moment is now.
The time has come for you and me.
Ya see, I’ve always done things straight from the heart and will continue to do so. Well, I admit, most always, not every time.
Even when I was wrong in following my heart, I felt good about the pursuit. Sure, there have been some regrets, but not too many.
How about you?
What happens if you don’t do something according to what your heart tells you to do?
Imagine yourself on the edge… high up…
… on this diving board.
You want to leap into that clear blue water and you’ve been preparing yourself for this high dive for months. You’ve practiced swimming, going far beneath the water’s surface and even low dives from the edge of the pool.
You want to jump, but some weird fear overcomes you. If you turn around with the fear choking off your breath, you will never be the same.
Jump!
Not now, you say.
Why not…
become…
really…
a Follow Your Heart Badass?
Let’s take another step farther back …… when the thought first came into your mind that you wanted to go somewhere different, do something weird or just conquer some small fear.
Back then, you might have dismissed your whimsical dream just like I have done at times. I’ve put off for a long time that I’ve wanted to own a restaurant and live not far from it so I could walk there on a daily basis for lunch. But I’m going for my restaurant now.
Whim, whim go away,
we’ll see if you
come back another day.
But this time, it’s an idea your heart won’t let go of. Think of my restaurant – I want Mexican. The dream or fixation keeps coming back and so you became consumed by the desire.
Is that when it’s time you began your training to make that high dive, or take that long sought after vacation or mountain climb.
Whatever.
Some times I’ve gotten in the middle of a project and then tried to talk myself out of it.
When I lived in Colorado Springs, I loved playing tennis and gave some lessons on the side. I had a regular part-time job (or is part-time not regular?). Also, I had a certificate that said I was a professional instructor, but I was not ready to make a total commitment to being a full time tennis pro at a club or fitness facility.
What the heck? You ask, “Why not?”
What was wrong with me?
At the time, I didn’t feel I was as qualified as some of the other players I hung around with who were already tennis teaching professionals. My students all said I was the best instructor they ever had. I could find lots of reasons not to make that next big step.
What? Did you just say that I was giving rather flimsy excuses?
Hey, buddy, it’s easy to say – just dive in.
It’s not so easy to DO.
Webs of excuses for not doing something are rather easy to create. Isn’t that almost the same as procrastination? The more I put something off, the less of a whole, fulfilled and full of self esteem person I became.
Is that what you want? You want to feel like I felt?
You want to be a shriveled up cantankerous shell of eaten from the inside individual. A Wussy?
Back then, I made the plunge. I remember the day. I decided to go for it. I drafted up a resume and sent it to every racquet club that had a listing for a tennis pro opening. It was a relief when I finally did that. Even when I did not get a response, I packed my bags and headed for somewhere in the Sunbelt. A toss of the coin took me to Tucson, AZ instead of Austin, TX.
Come on, man.
DIVE!
So what if everything you could possibly imagine to go wrong does go wrong?
I remember a saying (don’t remember what who’s it from), “It’s better to have tried and lost, than never to have tried at all.” Actually, I think the word is loved, not tried.
DIVE IN anyway!
Take the dive with me.
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