JOT Day 93 - Resistance to the next step

It's not very often anymore that I feel resistance of any magnitude on the ol' resistance scale.

But I'm learning new skills these days, skills that touch on several areas of just plain old lack of knowledge, and I'm feelin' the pain.

Not necessarily physical or emotional pain, but I'm feeling the edge that people get to when they see a possible solution to a problem in their lives, but the space between them and that solution seems to vast and so crazy impossible that they simply stop.

And the problem continues, unabated and probably with more of a bite because they are silently or not-so-silently berating themselves for not having the chutzpah to actually do the thing that scares them.

Months or years can go by before the problem consumes so much of their time and waking hours wondering what the hell to do about it that they become willing to venture close to that solution again.

Maybe.

I get that.

I get that things can feel so big and so unattainable that it just feels better to stop trying.

And the solution that is so enticing and tantalizing also feels like a huge albatross around your neck.

Because what if you fail?

What if you do it wrong?

What if it doesn't work?

What if....

We allow our minds to play these games with us.

That looming, dark, impossible quality to what we think we want is just a trick our egos play on us, drafting off the self-talk loops we learned from those around us growing up who were also playing that game with themselves.

Because the truth is, it's never as difficult as we think it's going to be.

The awful thing that we dread happening never happens.

The discomfort we anticipate is quickly replaced with a new sense of confidence and accomplishment that we didn't anticipate.

And there is no fail. Just judgment.

There is no "wrong". Just overachievement syndrome. 

And if things don't work out 100% the first time, that's because we're practicing, and it's highly unlikely that anything happens 100% right out of the gate.

Ever.

You didn't allow this mind-game stuff to prevent you from learning how to walk, or talk, or feed yourself.

You knew way back then that these were the next logicial steps in navigating this big ol' world, and you didn't spend one minute thinking about not being able to learn how do them. 

Remember?