“Sometimes we have to walk away from everything that has meant security for us in order to reach our dreams” – Stacy Allison–The first American woman to summit Mt. Everest
Several years ago, I ended a long marriage that had become miserable and then a couple years ago, I walked away from my big paycheck, big corporate office, and big title to follow my dream. But this was not everything. I still had my big luxurious house. I’m in the process of letting that go now. It is not easy and yet it feels so right.
Listening to Your internalGPS is Not Always Easy
It would be nice if following your dream were easy and just flowed like a good current down a river. But with a good current, there are big scary rapids that you have to navigate through. It is tempting to get off the river and sit on the bank when you see those rapids coming. Sometimes this is necessary. It took me a good year to come to the conclusion that in order to follow my dream I have to let all of my prior life go, including the big house.
Letting Go to Choose Freedom
Letting go of what has been such a big part of my life, for ten years, has moments of sadness but these are minimized by lovely moments of freedom. That is how you know you are on the right track and truly listening to your internalGPS and not to your fears. You get a feeling of freedom versus confinement when you make that difficult decision.
Earlier this summer I had an opportunity to jump back into a big corporate role; it was very flattering for my ego. And I was in turmoil with the decision of how I could give up or severely reduce the business that I love and is my dream. Once I had the clarity of my decision to keep focused on growing my business and following my internalGPS and not my fear, I had a wonderful sense of peace and freedom.
It is different for everyone, it may be your best choice to stay in your current role and shift your perspective or take a different turn that may include a new business or a different career/job. The key is letting go of your fears and listening to your internalGPS for the path that is right for you. Only you know your best path.
State of Illusion
Too often we get caught up in what looks good or feeds our ego and keeps our fears at bay and yet these things create more pain and longer term dissatisfaction than moving through our fears and following our dreams. I saw an amazing independent film this past weekend, “People Vs. The State of Illusion.” (linked) It is a great combination story and documentary about getting lost in our conditions and quest for more and how we create our own internal prisons. Big gratitude to the local theater business, Harkins, for taking a chance on this film and keeping it running. Hopefully it will be expanded beyond Phoenix. If you are here, go see it and tell your friends to go see it! I highly recommend it.
How are you listening to your internalGPS and letting go? Please share in a comment.
