Every time life brings you to a crossroad from the tiniest to the most immense go toward love, not away from fear. Think of every choice in terms of, “what would thrill and delight me” rather than, “what will keep my fear-or the events, people, and events I fear-at bay?” Martha Beck
Oh those crossroads. Should I go this way or that? Should I listen to my fears and be safe or (gulp) choose the road less traveled and go for what I love and be fearless in its pursuit?
It’s easy to be safe, the road is known and chances of getting lost are slim but the rewards…….well…they’re predictable and measured.
It takes courage to be fearless. To squeeze the eyes shut and leap onto the road less traveled, without a map or navigational help. But the rewards…on my… they could be ahhmazzzing!
So let’s think like Martha Beck and go towards love. I have a friend who is doing just that.
She was standing at a crossroads, one very successful career path had suddenly turned without warning. She received a handsome package which bought her time to (what she calls) ‘re.dream’. As she thought back over her life she came to a full stop at university where she had chosen one path over another. Her thoughts kept returning to the one not taken and she realized a deep longing and a make-the-heart-beat-faster love remained. Would switching gears at this point be doable? Practical? In the chosen field she had a solid track record. The other would require going back to school and starting from scratch…or would it?
She decides to let it simmer.
A couple of months pass.
She spots a job posting (by fluke) that requires her skill set but is in the area of the unrequited love. It’s in another country.
She responds (for fun). What does she have to lose? She sends off a resume and cover letter. She realizes, after it’s sent, she has forgone slick cover letter lingo and instead has “spoken from the heart”. I imagine it sounding like a letter to a friend.
Can you guess where this is going?
Of course….she gets the call!
At this point she’s well down the multi-stage/multi-hour/multi-person interview process and continuing. Martha (Beck) would love her. Instinctively she had followed the advice to the letter. She revisited a love from years ago and found it still thrilled and delighted her. She moved it into the light. She stayed open. She re.dreamed her life imagining what it would be like…passion and momentum building.
Love trumped fear from the beginning. It started with ‘stumbling’ across the job posting, then spoke as the passionate voice of the cover letter, established ease and openness in the interview process and continued by sparking immediate and natural connections among all players.
While she is still a chapter or two away from the ending my friend has wind beneath her wings and is gliding fearlessly.
She courageously allowed herself to ‘re.dream’ her life and in the process started to manifest more than she could imagine.
Martha’s smiling. I’m inspired.
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