Each one of us are faced with tough choices at various times in our life. Most of us come up against the dilemma at least once, wondering whether to take a leap of faith into something that inspires us or play it safe where we are.
When those times happen, what do you do? How do you make the tough choices in your life? Do you ask people you trust for advice? Maybe you weigh the risks and try to analyze the potential for success or failure? Some people make a pro’s and con’s list and evaluate their options that way.
I have learned that I can argue pretty much both sides of everything, so staying in any process that uses my mind as the deciding force leaves me anguished and often paralyzed. Yet, when I get quiet and turn to my heart, I can FEEL my way to the choices that will best feed my soul and bring me the most happiness. Any time I have made choices based on this inner guidance, I have found the universe conspiring to make it work out. When I have made other choices because I “thought they were right”, I was often left struggling to make them work.
I love the way CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien spoke of her keynote address at the recent Texas Women’s Conference. She encourages us to look beyond next year to a 10-year horizon. Then she asks, “What do you want to be? What impact do you want to have? …What do you want to be remembered for?”
Soledad even puts risk in a new perspective as she points out that when you look at your life decisions from the contribution you can make, they no longer appear risky–options like your career moves seem almost incidental to the potential difference you can make on the world, community or even your family.
I encourage you to be bold in your life, think BIG when you dream and really feel into what choices will give you the most joy in their unfoldment. If you are not stretching, you are probably also not feeling alive. So stretch a little. No, stretch a lot! You will look back and be so glad you did.
