The other day a woman from the leasing office came to my apartment for the move out inspection.
“Wow, you’re really courageous; moving to New York and starting over again”, she said.
” I figured, since I’m not a tree, now’s as good a time as any to go.”
She let out a deep sigh, “I’ve always wanted to move away from here”, she replied. “I just don’t have the courage to do it!”
I caught her sigh!
Change is a choice. No one says it comes easily. What I have learned though is when you begin to catch the signs of the longing in their early stages (the sigh) that’s the time to start taking the actions. The longer you wait for the changes to come, the deeper the longing grows; the stronger the futility and fear become, and more often than not, that’s the moment the hammer hits us over the head and forces us into making changes.
Sometimes that hammer comes in the form of illness or accidents. Sometimes it’s a breakup or divorce. It even takes on the shape of losing a job or getting fired.
Once the circumstances are so painful it’s no longer a choice, is it? We now have to ensure our survival and do all we can do to make our lives work, despite our circumstances.
If you’ve ever had a “choice” forced upon you, can you remember back to that little intuitive voice within you that knew long before it was time to go or time to change?
Why wait for those experiences before you make the change? People are motivated by two factors. They are either attracted to the pleasure of the change or they’ll wait till they experience fear and pain before changing.
It doesn’t have to be the latter. Next time you get the longing in your body, start listening. It’s your intuition telling you something. Pay attention and start taking little action steps in the direction of your longing. Longing for a new job but afraid to leave the old? Start sending out resumes, Start asking around. Stop justifying what you have and start imagining what you want.
Change is an inside job, so start there!