Embracing the Unexpected

I drafted the title of this posting several weeks ago, knowing I'd come back with some content later.  Almost magically, it has! I know when I'm "onto something" when that magical serendipitous feeling emerges. "How did I know this topic would be so profound for me...?"

It scares me, the unexpected, that is.

There's an element of blogging about life (notably my life) that scares me too. Like, what if people who read this judge me or they don't get it...or obviously they didn't get it if they're judging me!  haha! This list could go on.  So instead I've gotten over myself and committed to writing about my life again.

I haven't wanted to. But yet I really have wanted to. It's a long complicated story.  It's a story of the inner dialogue we all have when faced with, well, life. Life in general can be scary. Then rewarding. Then scary. You get the idea here. Mostly it boils down to that I have this desire to share. To share for the sake of having another person say something like "oh, that's cool, I see what you mean, that might help me too!"  I've been attached to perfectionism. Perfecting that I have to know fully all that there is to give to others before I can actually truly embark upon that.  But when will that EVER happen?  So instead the desire is more like "just get that sharing out there in the world and that's a plus if someone appreciates it".

Embracing the unexpected, as a concept is just this. Unexpected events, when embraced, can go/turnout/evolve much better than your wild-child fears imagine. I'm omitting catastrophic loss from this conversation because that's not the type of fear I'm talking about. I'm talking about small fears.  That ledge over there, you know, the one with the good view...are you too afraid of heights to step a bit closer and take it in?  You know that one?  Maybe you're not afraid of heights but it's something else like slaying scary spiders or conquering that fear you have of public speaking. I'm also talking about the other types of common fears: fear of being "found out" you're not as cool/great/nice/attractive/smart as your "image" of people think you are, fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of success. wait...what?

Yes I said fear of success! What exactly does that mean? 

Well, let me tell you. It means you're afraid of being successful because you fear what the success might bring to you, not fearing the actual "success" in and of itself. Surely we all want success, right? But what happens afterwards, with your friends, loved ones, the public (if you're a celebrity or become one)?  I mean, success is daunting.  Let's face it, it's downright scary. Plus with success now there's that reputation to uphold. If you start doing great things that take hard work, courage, and gumption...you know all too well that you're going to have to keep at it, right? You can't let your people/self/fans down! If you're like me you could be thinking "is this the right path though? What if I'm bored by it or change my  mind? or I start to fail after I'm so successful, everyone will be watching!" But yet, who says any of this will happen or matter when you achieve this particular success?  Do you want to give up a possible great thing for fear that your sister Susie will be jealous?! Heck no, and likely she really won't be anyway. What I've learned through embracing unexpected things is, you don't really know till you get there.  Plus, it's not always about getting anywhere. Success is a moment-to-moment journey. Just like life itself.

So we may as well embrace it or we will watch it pass us by. I don't want to look back later with regret over some silly what-if based fears. I also want to catch the view along the way by stepping closer to that scary ledge. Leaning on your loving self, and the love of those in your life, will provide the tools to get there and overcome that pesky fear voice. Just remember it when you hear it and tell it no thank you please step aside (it might even help to imagine yourself in a cape for these moments)!

So anyway, what was this posting about? ...I think I've shared enough for today. Consider the task accomplished.