I apologize for my two week break. I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving filled with giving (paying it forward), family, lots of food, and lots of joy. I have been crazy busy finishing up school, getting ready for the holidays, and most of all undergoing a deep cleanse. Now we have all heard about the "cleansing fad" but mine was more on the medical side unfortunately, but I am going to dedicate a future dedicated to the cleansing world.
Now I am not doing your average "cleanse" to just drop weight or feel energized. I am cleansing every organ in my body, which is taking intense will power and drive thanks to the Blessed Herb Cleanse. If you want to learn more about it take a look at their website and feel free to ask my any questions about my experience so far. After I am done with it I will be sure to share my journey. It has been interesting to say the least.
For today's post I wanted to give a little
Zoetic Challenge. I have been helping a friend out with refocusing her life. As I have been helping her take steps int he right direction, it has given me a lot of insight into what makes life genuinely full.
There are many things in life that we say we "want to do" or we know we "should do" but don't have the guts or just put it off until later. This is one of the things I have been working on with my friend and it always leads me to my pool analogy. After I explained this analogy with her I said I need to share this on Zoe Lane.
This is my own analogy I have used for years from my years of going to my friend's ice cold cool. Every weekend I would get ready to go to my family friend's pool that felt like it was always filled with ice (maybe I just remembered it as being cold because I was young, but it was pretty cold), but they were always excited for us to come visit so I wanted to go in (plus once I got in I knew it would feel great since it felt like 100 degrees). For the first couple of times I would stick my toes in the water and cringe feeling the cold sensation take over my body. I would turn to my dad and say "this is way too cold, there is no way I am going in." I would eventually be convinced to swim and I would spend the next 40 minutes creeping into the pool. It was definitely uncomfortable to get in the pool and it never really felt fully refreshing. I eventually got in but never got that rewarding feeling of that 100 degree relief.
I decided that this process was not only uncomfortable, but not very rewarding. I decided the next time I would do this differently. I walked through the gate, kicked of my flip flops, and without a word, without a touch of the water and without a second thought I ran and jumped in the cold pool. When I surfaced for air I thought "that feels amazing." I was in the pool, refreshed and even though there was an initial shock of "cold," it was worth the reward.
For the past couple of years I have explained this analogy to people and when someone is scared to do something they want to do I tell them "just jump in the cold pool." This idea has gotten me through a lot. Many things I have second guessed or I have thought about too much, I stop myself and I just do it. I believe in myself and I know I can accomplish these things I want to do, but sometimes over thinking and planning too much and can lead to distractions. If you think about it too much you will never jump. A couple times I have ran towards the edge to jump, thought about it and then backed away. At that point I was never going to jump because the doubt had already stopped me. Of course I could take a step back, refocus, and jump, which is exactly what you can do at anytime with a goal, but you must commit to jumping.
Now apply this to your life. What do you want to do? Is there something you have been wanting to do or need to do, but have been putting off or shying away from? What is stopping you? Doubt? Fear? Take that goal and the reasons you know this is the right decision or why you want to do this and just
JUMP. It can be something very simple.
Your
Zoetic Challenge this week is to think about something that you need to do. Is it a talk you need to have with someone? A call you need to make? A job you want to apply for? A class you always wanted to try? Something you wanted to sign up for? Or anything you wanted to do but were too nervous or doubted yourself? Take that goal and write down the steps you need and visualize the reward and how refreshing it will feel (just like the cold water) and JUMP.
A lot of times I get nervous following up after I applied for a job or when I am interested in a job. It is somewhat like cold calling. This is a scary thing for a lot of people. I used to sit there and think about how nervous I was and how much I didn't want to do it, until I implemented my cold pool idea. From then on I wouldn't even think twice about it. I knew what I had to do and I would dial and put the phone up to my ear before I could think twice. I just jumped. I have used this analogy for a friend who was unhappy in her current job. She was offered an opportunity to take an awesome new position, but was too nervous to leave the job she had worked hard in and was comfortable with, but she wasn't happy. I asked her if this new job was something she really wanted. She told me this is definitely what she wanted, but she still seemed nervous. Having explained this analogy to her before, I simply said "jump in the cold pool."
Now I know some big life decisions take more than just jumping in the pool, I understand this. You can't just jump when you are buying a house, or choosing a car, but for some of our daily decisions this idea is a life saver. I hope it helps you in some of your upcoming decisions and to push you a little towards your goals. Trust that even though there might be an initial shock, the jump will be more than refreshing and so worth it. Come on in, the water's great ;)
"Life is all about risks and it requires you to jump. Don' be a person who has to look back and wonder what they would have or could have had."
Dream, Believe, Inspire
