Erica Jong Said, "If You Don't Risk Anything, You Risk More"

It’s true. If you don’t risk doing something that you really want to try and do, you lose the opportunity to develop skills in becoming proficient, and, perhaps, even an expert in it. You lose out on learning about the subject. You lose out on making connections with interesting people who might have made great companions. You lose out on learning more about yourself and how you work. Most importantly, you lose out on the opportunity to enhance your self-worth and confidence in accomplishing a goal or in doing or being something you never thought you could possibly do or be. 

Self-confidence is an incredibly powerful virtue to develop.  It's an immune booster.  It strengthens and protects your spiritual, mental, emotional and physical well-being, so that when life offers you "lemons", you can make lemonade.

It takes less energy to try something - to reach out and risk failure or loss - than it does to sit back and do nothing, wondering what could have been if you had just tried, beating yourself up - which, we have all seen, can take many forms - for not girding your loins and doing whatever you wanted to do, in spite of the fears. For the rest of your life, you will always wonder, “what if…”

Risk it. Risk failing. Risk losing. Risk rejection. Risk humiliation. Otherwise, if you don’t risk living a life beyond fears, you risk everything that you are and can potentially be, and that is the greatest loss of all, not just to you, but also to the world. 

So, go ahead!  Risk a life worth living.  Dream yourself to be, and do, the best that you can imagine for yourself.  Then the miracles will happen, and living becomes almost effortless and deeply fulfilling, for yourself and for those around you.

Peace and love.

The Little Voice

It's been a while since my last post.

I could say that I've been very busy and haven't gotten around to it.  The truth is that I've fallen into the pit of fear again.  I find myself listening to the same question over and over in my head.  "Who wants to hear what I have to say anyway?" 

I know enough of the pop psych tools and rationales about getting on with one's life to be able to use it on myself.  I just don't want to anymore.  I'm tired of constantly pulling and dragging myself through my stubbornness to get on with writing.

The truth is, I don't feel like I am good enough.  Maybe, the real truth is that I'm lazy - too lazy to put in the work.  No, that's not true.  The truth is I'm afraid of reliving the emotional memories of events that have had a profound impact on my life.  Many of them have been painful, and many more still have been so magnificent, so gracefully and magnanimously gifted to me that I sometimes feel like my body wants to scream and shout for joy.  But, then I say to myself, "who wants to hear you talk about these things?"  and "who cares?"

Life is beautiful.  I marvel at the magic and mystery of life, of the events that bring people together and that tear them apart, of the depth and breadth of understanding that one can dive into within the self and beyond the known world.  Even in the darkest moments, I find life beautiful.  Life is so precious.  I love it! 

Still, the little voice inside me, for whatever reason, insists on holding on to the belief that, although life is precious and beautiful and miraculous and magical, she, herself, is not worthy of the same consideration.  In the end, it doesn't matter whether I think I am worthy or not.  But, if I don't add my voice to the ethereal symphony of creation that we are all a part of, then am I not doing a disservice to myself and to life, Itself?

I'm ready to write.  Thanks for waiting for me to crawl out of my black hole, Friends, and for your encouragement to write.

Peace.