In every moment, you get to start afresh. Every moment of your life, you can choose to start new. With moment, I mean this very second. Or this one.
What holds you back from doing that all the time?
Usually, it’s the comfort of daily routines, the comfort of a safe job, the comfort of a safe relationship, a safe country, a safe house, you name it. On the other side of that comfort zone resides fear. Fear of not knowing how it goes. Fear of being outcast. Fear of being alone. Fear of screwing up your life’s work, maybe?
I remember some very distinct moments of utmost fear when I chose to make big changes. Walking into my then boss’ office to give notice, and not having a fancy job lined up to back me up and look good. It’s not that I couldn’t have. I didn’t want to. I felt fear they would think I’m crazy. They probably did, too. And what does it matter? This was my life, and I knew I had to change and get out of a classical legal career in a large law firm.
Another distinct moment was the moment when I chose to take a sabbatical of 4 months from my reputable corporate job to travel to New Zealand. It was a bold thing to ask for and seemed impossible at the time. Letting my fear run through me, with the clarity of my choice, made it possible.
One of the scariest things I ever did was choosing to pack up in Germany and going to live in New Zealand. How would that work out? Was I making the biggest mistake of my life? Even months after arriving in New Zealand I would occasionally wake up in the middle of the night with this fear of going into the wrong direction and making a mess of my life.
Looking back, I wouldn’t want to miss a single of those moments and not a single of those decisions.
Has my life become a mess? I wouldn’t call it that. It certainly is no longer “linear”. The more I follow my impulses, the more life takes me on this incredible journey with adventures I couldn’t even have dreamt of.
Fear is a part of that process of reinventing life. If you haven’t yet, it is time to befriend it. Your life starts now.
