Courageous
"The idea was fantastically, wildly improbable.
But like most fantastically, wildly improbable ideas
it was at least as worthy of consideration
as a more mundane one to which
the facts had been strenuously bent to fit.”
– Douglas Adams (Author of Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy)
It is a public holiday today in New Zealand. A long weekend. I had been looking forward to this. Doing what I want. An added variant is that my husband is away for a couple of weeks - which gives me more "time for myself". I know many women can relate to that. We love being with the people around us and may tend to put our own needs on the back burner - because it is ok. And mostly, it is a completely self-made conundrum; those around us usually really do want our best, and it is simply our decisions and actions that make us potentially fall short of doing what we really, really want.
What do we really, really want?
Now that is a difficult question to answer.
So I had all day yesterday to do what I really, really want. Boy, that was difficult...
I caught myself a couple of times to wish my other half was there, to - just be there.
I ended up reading a lot (which I do most weekends), gardening (which I do quite a bit since we moved house) and having a long video conversation with a friend (which I do occasionally). Nothing particularly new or special though. I wrote to a friend how I always admired her courage. To me, she was that teenager who always said and did what she thought was right - even though it might not have pleased the ones around her. Funnily enough, she replied that she had not seen herself that way. We decided we would explore that a bit further next time we talked.
The concept of courage stayed on my mind, though, and I asked myself where I could up my courage a bit. I do think of myself as a courageous person - I never shied away from change and I am usually the first to volunteer having a go in a group setting. But am I courageous when considering the most fantastically, wildly improbable ideas, or do I settle for the more mundane ones, strenuously bent to fit some norms or expectations? It struck me that doing outrageous things that need courage is easy for me - but NOT doing things, maybe just lolling around all day - that is very difficult for me. What am I scared of?
My invitation to you is to keep your mind open for those fantastically, wildly improbable ideas that might pop up in your mind. Check if you bent the facts to fit because of a lack of courage.
What would it need for you to explore the fantastically, wildly improbably a bit more? What might those thoughts and ideas inform you about?
I might just courageously do nothing much today - and notice how that feels.
My invitation to you today:
Be open to at least considering a new idea or dream that sounds wildly and fantastically improbable. It came up for a reason.
What aspect of that idea is indeed doable?
How can you put some of it into practice?
Notice how that feels.
Have a courageous week. This is your time.
With the heart of lioness
Yours kindly
Mel
