THE UNKNOWN IS OUR FRIEND
Creating new possibilities can happen in the present moment
IT is human instinct to want to control everything that happens around us, but we cannot. The earlier we understand that and identify what we can and cannot control, the more stable and confident we will be to face the unknown. If you were to tell me ten years ago that the unknow is my friend, I would have questioned it.
Why is the unknown our friend?
What if you changed your perspective of the unknown from something unsettling or scary to something that provides new opportunities? If you think about it, growing and creating new possibilities happen in the present moment. When you walk into the unknown with excitement for what is possible with arms wide open, you will create things you never dreamed possible.
But what if you walk into the unknown afraid and with arms folded, and not wanting to go there? You would be so contracted and have a narrow view of what is there. Thus, it would be best if you were open and ready to receive something new and unknown for it to happen.
Here is what happened in my life when I started to welcome the unknown and step into places I had never gone before.
I had been coaching clients for over 15 years and became curious about the people who experienced adversity and became stronger vs. people who buckled and never recovered. I was telling my friend Colleen about this over coffee one day, and she blurted out, “You should write a book about this.” I said, “A book, I can’t write a book.” Colleen
said, “I will help you”, and she did. I created a survey on the subject of courage and gathered responses from one hundred people. I wrote my book One Hundred Hearts from the stories in the survey.
Growing & creating new possibilities happen in the present moment.
Writing my book was the first time I stepped into the unknown and pushed past my limiting beliefs in a way I had never done before.
The next time I stepped into the unknown was a time after writing my book when a friend challenged me to apply to do a TEDx talk. Again, I courageously pushed past my limiting beliefs and applied. The first place I applied to, accepted me, and I was on a TEDx stage four months later, speaking to 300 people.
The rest is history. I went on to become a motivational speaker as well as an author. I now feel more comfortable in the unknown than the known. I look forward to what is next in the unknown. Had I not taken a chance on being in a place of the discomfort, of not knowing what was next or what was possible, I would not be living the life I am today.
Steps to embracing the unknown:
1. Be aware of choices you are making. Being uncomfortable is OK.
2. Remember that it is alright to risk doing something new and failing. It might just be a stepping-stone to something better, or you might succeed the first time.
3. Create a list of things you have always wanted to do but always had excuses for why you couldn’t. Pick one.
4. Write it down and any limiting belief about not being able to do it. Write down a replacement for that limiting belief that is true.
5. Take steps toward the thing you want to do.
6. Create a vision of the future, seeing yourself doing this thing. See it, feel it, embody it. Be it!
Watch the wonder of the impossible becoming possible.
Terry Sidford has been a certified life coach in the United States for the past 15 years and has assisted scores of people in achieving their dreams. More information is available from Terry’s website.