Diane Bolden’s Synchronistically Speaking

Are you dreaming big enough?  If so, you may often feel overwhelmed by the seeming magnitude of what lies before you. 

As we entertain dreams, visions and goals that seem so large that they become daunting, we must not be intimidated by the seeming length or difficulty of the journey ahead of us.  I was reminded of this years ago on a skiing trip.  After an hour or so, the years that had passed since my last skiing excursion no longer seemed significant and my adventurous side led me to a very difficult black run, full of moguls and steep angles.  Once I embarked upon the run, I realized I was in way over my head.  At that moment the temperature dropped suddenly and a fog rolled in that was so thick that I could not see more than three feet ahead of me.  I began to panic.  I wanted more than ever to reach the bottom of the slope and became more fixated on having the run behind me than on the thrill of the experience itself. 

 As soon as my attention and focus went from the snow in front of me to the bottom of the steep slope, I lost control and came crashing to the ground, losing my skis and feeling the slap of the hard cold ground beneath me.  I managed to somehow to get up and put my skis back on, but before long my focus would shift and the same thing would happen again.  It was only when I resigned myself to pay attention to what was right in front of me that my body knew how to navigate each mogul.  When I let go of having to know exactly how I would get down that mountain and trust that I could make it a few feet at a time, I had everything I needed to succeed. 

I think that is how life is too.  When we feel dismayed at not having everything figured out right off the bat, we can ask ourselves what we can do right now that will lead us closer to our goals and trust that we will be given exactly what we need to continue our journeys right when we need it.  Sometimes conditions are not right for us to proceed full speed ahead, and circumstances take a turn that feel frustrating.  Often the skills we need are those that can only be developed through a series of challenges that require us to move out of our comfort zones.  We may see these events as setbacks and annoying diversions without realizing their perfect place in the larger orchestration of a course of events we are engaged in that has much greater implications than what we originally envisioned. 

Perhaps the whispers of our heart and the calls to greatness that we feel within our souls are essential components of a larger, collective plan that we each play a vital part in.  As we rise up to play these parts fully and wholeheartedly, we can revel in the beauty of its mysterious unfolding.  In the process, we will discover ourselves to be greater than we thought we were and use each moment of our lives to create something extraordinary for ourselves and others.

Copyright Synchronistics Coaching & Consulting 2010.  All rights reserved.

This post is an excerpt from an article called Living Large, published in my January ezine.  To subscribe (it’s free), and to access the rest of the article, go to www.DianeBolden.com/articles.   You will receive future monthly articles as well as my free report on 10 Traps Leaders Unwittingly Create for Themselves – and How to Avoid Them.

Believing Is Seeing

The other day my kids had a play date with some friends and I overheard part of a conversation where one of them was telling the other that Santa Claus wasn’t real.  I heard my eight year old son vehemently defending the jolly old man, with elaborate explanations of why that which wasn’t easily proven was worthy of believing in anyway.  I had to laugh, as I flashed back to one of my own experiences with a little girl in my neighborhood who made fun of me for believing that a fat man in a red coat actually came down my chimney every year.  I was so mad that when she wasn’t looking, I broke all her crayons and put them back in the box (and spent the rest of that season worrying that my little passive aggressive outburst put me on the naughty list).

I have since learned that it is okay if everyone doesn’t believe the same things I do, and my son will learn that too.  But he is the one who taught me something that day.   I was buoyed by his unwavering belief and faith in something he’s never really seen and inspired by his example.   Regardless of what each child ends up getting for Christmas, I can’t help but believe that those who trust in something magical will experience that magic in ways the skeptics will not.  And I think the same is true in life.   

There will always be someone around to tell us what we want to create or accomplish cannot be done.  And there will also always be people who upon being so told, will do it anyway.  Their faith, determination and belief in something they have yet to see will allow them to persevere until their dreams become reality.   People in this second category do not need to engage in debates, for their actions are sufficient not only as a testament to what they believe, but as an inspiration to others who may begin to suspend their own doubt about what is possible.

One of my favorite authors on personal and spiritual growth, Alan Cohen, once said “You do not need to get others to believe in your truth.  You just need to live it.” 

In a world where much is uncertain and the old success formulas no longer seem to work, I believe it is more important than ever to trust in what we know to be true in hearts, even if our minds cannot figure it all out.  It may go against what we have been conditioned to believe, see and do, and perhaps this makes it even more important.  To bust out of old paradigms that keep us from realizing our greatness, perhaps we need to stop questioning what is possible and start challenging our limits instead.   As we do, we will begin to make manifest that which we previously only dreamed was possible, and through our example show others the way to rise.

I wish you a beautiful, sacred holiday and the realization of your most treasured dreams in the coming New Year.

Copyright Synchronistics Coaching & Consulting 2009.  All rights reserved.

If you liked this post, you may also enjoy Leader Know Thyself, You Can Be the Change We Need, and Leadership Lit Up.  Download these and other articles for free at www.DianeBolden.com/articles.  While you are there, you can subscribe to receive a new feature article each month.  You will also receive my free report on 10 Traps Leaders Unwittingly Create for Themselves – and How to Avoid Them.