When you think about the kind of life you want to live, what is it that you most want to see happen for yourself? Now, I want you to honestly ask yourself if you’re doing what it takes to make that vision happen. Are you taking the action and the chances you need to take in order to make your most deeply held dreams and ambitions come true? Or are you choosing the safe route, the one that everyone except you thinks you should take? Are you on track to creating the life you really want, or are you choosing instead to travel the safe road? Because the thing is, if you want to live a life less ordinary, then you have to do something beyond the ordinary; you have to be willing to risk the road less travelled, to go beyond your fears and do the things that others aren’t willing to do.
I’ve posted before about how the greatest risk we can take in life is to choose to take no risks at all. When we avoid all risks, living our lives in fear of something going wrong, or in fear of not being capable of our ambitions, we end up not living our lives at all. Fear is a powerful thing, and it causes so many of us to abandon the hopes and dreams that we hold most dear. When our own doubts are pounding at the doors of our hearts, we become susceptible to all the well-meaning advice of those around us who tell us to forget it; that the road we travel is too hard; that the odds are against us; that we are irresponsible for putting our dreams ahead of other’s feelings; that we need to face reality, forget our dreams, and just do what everyone else does.
Choosing a life less ordinary
But when you have a dream beating within your heart, giving it up out of fear, or giving in to other people’s should’s and ought to’s, we lose a part our ourselves. When you feel yourself called to a path that is different from the norm, it’s not something that you can easily ignore or supress, no matter how much other people might want you to. But if your path leads you in a different direction than everyone you know, then you have to be willing to do something different than everyone you know in order to reach that destination. Doing what everyone else does, thinking the way everyone else does, and talking about what everyone else does can only get you what everyone else has. Do the ordinary things, get the ordinary life. Want a life less ordinary? Then do the less ordinary things. Follow the less ordinary path.
Is it easy? Hell no. Your faith will be tested. Your courage will be tested. Your resolve will be tested. You’re breaking new ground, going places few people dare go. That scares the people around you, and scared people, like scared animals, bite. You’ll get flak from every side. You’ll be insulted and derided and beaten down, until you’re willing to shift your focus, let go of what’s not serving your vision, and start looking for the others like yourself who are also choosing a different path. In them you will find your support and the encouragement you need to come to terms with the path you’ve chosen; to know without doubt that it is the right one for you, and to find the strength to continue on your journey.
An authentic life – a life lived boldly, fearlessly and fully, is not the easiest of options available to you. It’s far easier to take the well-travelled safe route and live the life that you are expected to live. But if that’s not making you happy, then maybe it’s time to reconsider the usual. Maybe it’s time to consider a different path and a different life; a life in which you become everything that you know you can be… a life less ordinary.
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This is great, but how about the obstacles? When you choose this way, or go in this direction, the obstacles mount up. When you do things differently, the naysayers come out of the woodwork. It is hard to overcome obstacles and not listen to the negative people. At least, until you train yourself to become immune to both. Like, at some point you will see and obstacle as a nuisance and a fun, exciting challenge and the naysayers won’t even come in contact with you, right? That is how I feel it can be. I mean, we are on a path for a reason. We get tested, alright and sometimes it is painful and many tears are shed. We need to muster up the courage to go above all that, right? Tears of joy are another matter and are great to shed!
It is funny, I was having doubts about something but also appreciating many things about the past, when the universe presented me with an episode of Star Trek. In this episode, the captain is mortally wounded and is having regrets about his life. He is allowed by the entity Q (which I believe represents source energy) to go back and change a few things, so friendships were severed and he did not take any chances, leading a safe, mediocre life he did not like at all and requested to die rather than live that type of life. After this, he was saved and allowed to be captain, but the experience stuck with him and he learned not appreciate everything. That says a lot doesn’t it?
There are a couple of ways of looking at the obstacles that might help you to cope with them. First, you can look at it as the Universe mirroring your own resistance or limiting beliefs back at you. Are those naysayers giving voice to things that you’ve secretly been thinking in the recesses of your own mind? Could this be an opportunity to bring those limiting beliefs out into the open so that you can see them for the smoke and mirrors that they really are and finally free yourself to let them go? Second, look at these obstacles as proof that you are on the right path… if you weren’t getting closer, then your resistance wouldn’t be triggered so strongly, would it? Try to view the obstacles and naysayers as blessings showing you that you are making progress, and helping you to release the beliefs that have been holding you back by moving those beliefs out of hiding and making them obvious to you so that you can move past them.
I think I remember that episode of Star Trek. When we’ve had to deal with traumas in our lives, we often wish that things could have been different. But everything that we have experienced has been a factor in bringing us to where we are today. If we can remember that, then it becomes easier to accept the past and use it as a catalyst for living the present in full, while building the foundation for future that we most want.
That is really great, Nathalie, thank you! It makes sense, it’s just tough to think that way when your thinking is skewed and your vibration is all out of whack.
Abe Hicks once said to someone to pursue their dream. Dreams that do not leave you alone and keep coming up are to be pursued. They stir inside of you and keep you awake at night, so we kind of have to move onward and forward. You cannot give up on a dream. And, if it hurts, you need to do it, rather than not go for it. I think it hurts because it is a part of us. You know, like an embryo growing inside of us. Something like that; I can’t think of anything else at the moment to depict it better. Maybe even like an organ. Except this is from a higher place, kind of connecting you even more to source energy. It thought it hurt because of the obstacles. Abe says to ease up a bit on dreams when you hurt now and then. I think that sounds very good.
Yeah, it is tough at first. But if you keep working at it, it gets easier… you’re training yourself to form a new thought habit, and at some point you will have made that shift deliberately often enough that it does become a real habit and it won’t be so hard anymore.
Your dreams are there for a reason. Never forget that. And yes, sometimes you do need to take a break, even from working on your dreams. Everyone needs to rest once in a while. This allows you to renew your energy and refocus yourself on what you really want. Sometimes your biggest breakthroughs and inspirations come when you’re doing other things.