Changing Course

​Changing Course or How to be the Most Inspiring Person You Know
 
 
Please indulge me for being a boring Ph. d for a few minutes who delights in finding gems in research and sharing them with other people.  A study I read recently shows that taking walks makes people more creative.  Once I read that fact I made a sworn commitment to show up for a daily walk. Wind or rain, cold or hot, I am strolling.  The gifts that this commitment give me are beyond my ability to express.  Now, I question why I didn’t do this always.
 
In contemplating the answer, I think the most uninspiring reason to take a walk is because you are afraid of being fat or worse yet, you think you already are fat.  I think the second most uninspiring reason is because you feel you can’t run or do anything more strenuous.  The third least inspiring reason is to think you already know what you will see.
 
I could do on with this list forever…
 
 
The funny part is that when I had a dog for so many years of my life, I believed it was important to walk her. Why didn’t I think it was important to walk me once she passed on?  Is that one of human’s little failings that we forget we too are animals?  We are creative, imaginative, brilliant beings who are still very much animals.
 
 
But, my point is that in order to really explore life and wander through your actual or metaphoric landscape of your life, you have to take some measures that can be applied to all areas of your life in need with some love.
 

1. You need to believe in the beauty of the idea.
2. You must invest in your own well being consistently to see benefits.
3. Whether you are introvert, extrovert or amnivert (combo) you need to fall in love with your own company.
4. See this endeavor as a way to explore yourself, your world and your possibilities.
5. Embrace the idea that all who wander are not lost.
6. There is beauty in “being” in your world not just being a passive digital observer of other people’s lives and fake lives.
7. You deserve to be interesting and can only do so by taking interest in your world and being present to yourself and then others in that order.

 
One of the principles in my book 52 Ways to Free my Mojo, is that we need to stop glorifying
Busy-ness.  We witness everyday ourselves or those around us being to busy to connect with themselves or with one another.  Changing course requires us to slow down and move at a different speed. Being a robot going through daily routines automatically may be contributing to the high rates of anxiety and depress we see burdening the world.
 
Something is off in our world and it looks like all attempts at waiting for a hero to solve them are futile.  We are the hero we are waiting for and have been all along.
 
In every mythical story telling structure in the world there is a hero who has to be at the center of the story. The hero has a quest and it looks quite likely that the hero will not accomplish this – but then through adventures and exploring options that do not work at all, the hero learns self mastery and miraculously conquers the quest.
 
What if you are that hero?
What if it’s your time to realize that all the efforts you made that disappointed you were merely lessons to get you stronger, wiser and fitter in overcoming obstacles, enemies and your own weaknesses?  What if you changed course and turned your face to the wind and walked with confidence and purpose directly into the unknown.
 
Being a parent of a child on the autism spectrum was probably a tragedy I hoped I would never face.  And then I did face it.  It took me years to grasp what any of that meant and how my life would continue.  The obvious was lost on me. My life as I knew it was over and I did have the right to mourn it, but what awaited me was a much bigger and more daring life. I was headed down a new course and I went towards it silently kicking and screaming, while outwardly stoic.
 
What if it’s time to embrace the journey. Today as I took my walk I saw an older woman ahead of me strolling to the left. I had never gone that way before. So I decided to change course. I walked along a windy country road.  At the end of the road there was a field and above the field the sun shone over the sea.  The golden glow of the sun reflected in the ocean right beyond the field. The green Irish field right before the ocean was one of the most unusual scenes I have ever stood before. The morning light was glorious and the field was still and emerald green.  I stood there and just felt as if I lived in a visual poem.
 
After making my obligatory post on social media, I turned and I walked back up the winding road excited about the climb and pull in my leg muscles.  It occurred to me then that over the years my life mission had really changed. I had been burdened by ambition and achievement for so many years.  Now, it occurred to me, my new goal was to help people overcome their resistance to living life full.  I want to be the most inspiring person I know.  Because let’s be honest, if you cannot inspire yourself maybe you are off course…  Perhaps it's now time for you to turn down all the noise in the digital world and listen to your inner hero. It's time to be your own guru. 
 
 
 
Please join me soon for new upcoming retreats, workshops and webinars if I can inspire you too.  If I can help you with private coaching or project consultation email me anytime at drnadram@gmail.com.