What have YOU been working on
that has you suddenly face to face with the second step?
What dream or vision have you been working on
that suddenly feels stalled?
How long have you felt that churning and simmering
in your head, pulling you towards taking the next step?
What's stopping YOU?
If you were to turn that ending into a beginning,
what would you do next?
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'Don't chase your dreams, catch them.' Unknown
Face
to Face with the Second Step
I was first introduced to Richard Stine's simple black and white line drawings
at a Westwood art faire while attending graduate school at UCLA.
His series, 'Smile in a Mad Dog's i’ brought a smile to my own and made me laugh.
While I lingered at his booth, lusting after his drawings, I was a poor graduate student and I just couldn't pay $30 for a simple line drawing. I walked away without buying anything.
Over the next year, every time I found myself stalled and frustrated after
starting a school or work project one of his images, 'Dog
face to face with the second step', kept popping into my
head.
I could clearly see that silly, flat-faced, wire-haired black dog with his
eyes glued to, and staring at, the second step of the stairs. I was
that dog. And it was exactly how I felt--face to face, not with
the first step, but the second. When I looked closely, I could
clearly see the second step was in fact larger than the first.
I began to see how life was going to progress. Just as I was congratulating myself for finally getting the latest project off to a
good start, I had to look out for that big second step stopping me in my
tracks.
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The Second Step--An Opportunity for a Fresh Start
But the light began to dawn and I came to see the second step in a positive
light.
Instead of being pushed off-track by the unexpected obstacles, I learned to expect the unexpected and turn a potential ending into a fresh start.
WOOF! Be the Dog ~ Paws and Assess
What have YOU been working on that has you suddenly face to face with the
second step? What dream or vision have you been working on
that suddenly feels stalled? How long have you felt that churning and
simmering in your head, pulling you towards taking the next step? What's
stopping YOU? If you were to turn that ending into a beginning, what would you
do next?
What's
Got You Stalled?
You
can always feel the second step staring you in the face. You may not always be
able to articulate what it is blocking you from moving forward but you can feel
the invisible barrier just the same. Recognizing it's there is the first step
to moving past it.
Now is the perfect time to clear your path to making forward progress. Why not make today the day you choose to move past YOUR second step?
Three Steps to Get Past the Second Step--Again and Again
Get up 1 hour earlier
to devote yourself to your current dream.
Don't
let yourself be distracted.
Choose.
Choose the one thing to focus on NOW.
Act
today. Put your thoughts on paper, and convert
those thoughts to do-able actions. Choose to act on one step
today.
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What Sets You Off?
We all have that person or situation that can set us off--and in a flash--our emotional state shifts into high alert mode and we're left with a throbbing headache and stomach tied in knots. Before you know it, you're so angry you could just spit...and all you can do is watch as a perfectly good day nosedives in a downward spiral.
"Calmness is the cradle of power."
Josiah Gilbert Holland
What Sets You Off?
We all
have that person or situation that can set us off--and in a flash--our
emotional state shifts into high alert mode and we're left with a throbbing headache and stomach tied in knots. Before
you know it, you're so angry you could just spit...and all you can
do is watch as a perfectly good day nosedives in a downward spiral.
What
is it for you?
I love the visual of being so mad I could spit nails. Although I am basically a gentle person by nature, the instant I'm set off I imagine doing things like spitting nails at the target of my ire Popeye-style. And as I prefer to be viewed as a nice, reasonable person, when someone sets me off and forces my evil-twin to emerge I am doubly angry.
'I'm so angry I could just spit' is an old expression used to express the extreme
anger you feel when someone sets you off. There are several explanations about
where the phrase originated. 'I'm so mad I could spit nails'
supposedly originated in times past from carpenters who carried
nails in their mouth as they worked.
When I'm so angry I could spit nails, I have a difficult time spitting out a
proper response--as if my mouth was full of nails. And it takes a while for me
to climb down the ladder of my hyped-up emotions before I can get back to the
work at hand and being productive.
We all get set off by something that makes us spitting mad, and we all have
strong emotional reactions to it. The question isn't if something is going to
set us off, it's how do we move through it with the least angst and best
outcome.
How do you regain your personal power after getting set off
and losing it?
Why It Doesn't Pay to React
The instant you lose your calm, your emotions get the better of you--and you
lose the ability to act from a place of personal power. The emotional fog created by the anger quickly robs
you of your ability to see and think clearly and drains you of your
strength to act reasonably.
When we angrily react to the situation we come out swinging
with a crude childlike anger that merely demonstrates our feeling
out-of-control to others rather than making us appear powerful and strong.
Whatever it is that sets you off and makes you feel reactive and hot-headed,
calm is the salve to regain a cool head and confident manner.
To regain a sense of calm, you must give yourself time and
distance from whatever set you off.
My
mother used to say, you have to 'let time work for you'. You will save a
lot of angst by letting time do the calming work for you. It's okay if you're
unable to spit out a response when you get set off. Give yourself time to say
and do nothing.
To act
out of calmness, not react out of hyped up emotions:
When you are calm and clear thinking, consider your actions. When you are calm
you can come from the place of a resilient and strong adult able to see 'all
things seemingly good or bad work in your favor'--and take charge of your
response.
As Eleanor Roosevelt said, 'No one can take your power away unless you give it
to them'. Don't let people rob you of your personal power. Learn to choose
your responses calmly after you lose it.
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'Whatever the present moment contains, embrace it as if
you had chosen it yourself.' Eckhart Tolle
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INSIDE THE SUN
SHINES
Inside our
flowering spirits
The sun shines,
Burning bright,
And powering us on.
Outside the spirits
of Hope and Goodwill
Call us to engage
in the world to do good.
You have a light
that shines.
Share it.
You have an inner
fire to ignite
Good energy.
Use it.
Set the world on
fire
With positive
deeds.
Bring your best,
sunniest self.
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WE ARE THE SUN
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