Freedom Blog

Thursday, February 23, 2017

What Are You Waiting For?


Steven Griggs | Free Spirit        

What Are You Waiting For?

Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com

“On the Plains of Hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions who, at the dawn of victory, sat down to wait, and waiting—died.
George W. Cecil
  
“Are you waiting on a lightning strike? Are you waiting for the perfect night? Are you waiting til the time is right? What are you waiting for? Do you wanna learn to deal with fear? Do you wanna take the wheel and steer? Don’t you wait another minute here. What are you waiting for?”
Nickelback

Why does it seem that when we want something to happen or to make a change we end up hesitating or pausing before we actually pull the trigger. 

Sometimes we stop, we seem to be waiting to make the move.

What are we waiting for? Why are we holding back?

Maybe we are hesitating or waiting until we get the perfect feeling or some sort of confirmation that it's "ok" to go forward.

Some people don't hesitate, they just take action but most of us will waiver.

An interesting by product of this is that by waiting and not making a move things are decided for us. The situation changes, things get taken off the table or by our inaction we have defaulted and the decision gets made for us.

So on a deeper level you have made a move, you've chosen inaction and allowed the course of events to make your move for you. 


Some might say when it's a negative or unwanted result that "it wasn't meant to be" or "it just wasn't in the cards". 

Someone else gets the job, the apartment you liked gets rented... something has foreclosed your potential move.

This isn't really true because we are always getting what we are asking for. It just doesn't look like it at the time because it doesn't match our "conscious" mind's desire or wish. 

Another thing to look at is that if you held back and didn't feel ready to move forward or act, could there be another reason? Could it be that subconsciously you weren't really aligned with the action? There was some deeper concern or non-alignment that made you hesitate and that's why you held back? 

Is there any way to be totally sure about making the right move? 

Other than obvious, simple decisions, I don't think so. 

But there is one big reason that most of us hesitate on making a move or taking action: Fear.

Fear of change, fear of failing, fear of embarrassment...... fill in the blanks.

But usually if we sit quietly and roll the issue around in our mind, we can get a glimpse of the bigger picture and realize that there really aren't any wrong moves. 

Nothing is really earth shattering. There are always only two possibilities: It will work or it won't.

Yes, some choices obviously may result in "unwanted" consequences, say if you decide to rob a bank or break the law. But again you "knew" what could happen when you made the choice and you went ahead anyway.  So on some level you wanted that result.

So when mulling over a new step or choice that will bring changes, remember the old 80/20 rule: 80% of the things we worry about don't happen and the 20% that do aren't as bad as you thought they would be.

Try to be action oriented, if you can't, you'll still be making moves, it just won't seem like it.

But you are.

















We Are All Orphans

No Limits | Free Spirit


We Are All Orphans

Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com

“We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can  we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.”        Orson Welles
“We are the universe pretending to be individuals.”                             
Deepak Chopra

The other day I went into a restaurant to have a bowl of soup and as I was being seated a lady in the booth directly in front of me said “I knew you were bald (My head is shaved) because no one wears a hat as well as a bald man.”

I said thank you but the lady continued to talk to me. She was explaining that she recently had a gastric bypass and was therefore on a strict diet. I encouraged her and wished her the best. She then said a curious thing: “ My mother died recently and now I’m an orphan……”

The woman was in her late sixties so it struck me that she would consider herself an orphan at this age and I thought to myself “what did she really mean by that comment?”

I thought more about this and realized that really, we are all orphans. We are born alone, we live alone with our thoughts and we die alone. Some of us are more alone than others. Some are more fearful of being alone. Some are never alone.

This, I think, is a pervasive thought, “I am alone”.

But…. is it really true? Are we really alone? Or is it a desperate “human” feeling, a longing for a human connection? Or is it possibly the tribal need for togetherness and unity?

I believe that it is a human feeling, a blurring of our true vision. The truth is that we (and everything) are all connected.

The feeling of aloneness (or loneliness) is merely us forgetting who we really are.  

I spend a lot of time alone. I travel the world alone, I camp alone. I love it but I haven't always been ok with being alone. I used feel lonely and felt I needed someone to travel with or camp with. I don't do everything alone, I camp with my family and grand kids and when they get older I'll take them with me on some of my travels. My wife used to travel with me all the time, she just got tired of spending days on end looking at ruins or staring at exhibits in museums all over the world. I have a "problem" in that I am endlessly fascinated by history and events and love to travel to all those places and stand where Alexander stood and my other heroes stood and visit the actual battle fields and new discoveries being made. 

Travelling alone internationally is not everyone's cup of tea and I've definitely been to some places that most people would never go to, (e.g. Gobekli Tepe, the Hittite capital of Hattusa, Midas' tomb....)

We can never be separate from anything. We are all made of the same stuff and connected in an endless field of connectivity.

There is no space between anything. We swim in a sea of particles. Those particles create all matter and connect all matter.

Particles make Atoms which make Molecules which make Matter.

So next time you start feeling alone, try to remember that although we seem separate and it feels like we are separate.....

We aren’t.

You are not alone. You are part of everything.

If you can get that, you’ll be way ahead of the game.

Most humans never really get that until right before they close their eyes…..and breathe their last breath...... and realize..... they're going home.