Are you this guy? A lesson in leaping from a girl.

My friend, I’ll call him Mike, is in what I describe as the “spin cycle.” For many, many years he has not felt good—physically or mentally.
He has shifted in slight ways over all this time to try to heal himself.
He started going toward more alternative health options with acupuncture, chiropratic and energy medicine.
He’s doing some meditation (kinda) and he reads each morning from spiritual pieces to open up his mind to finding peace. He does some yoga.
Like me, his childhood wasn’t the best. Trauma was the result. Woundedness. Trust issues. No way he’s EVER going to show his vulnerabilities in an authentic way. Instead he chooses self deprecation. And has become even more introverted. He fights his life like a cat head-first in a paper bag.
He takes on the weight of the world. Feels he must be the savior of any place where he has a level of authority. Believes self care in any meaningful way is selfish.
Then Mike crashed.

About a year ago Mike crashed, hard.
His heart said, “Hey Mikey, guess what? Since you haven’t listened to all the signals I’ve sent you thus far, I’ll just wallop your ass. Then you’ll have to change.”
Well that worked for like a month. Then Mike was back at it again. Feeling worse than ever, but fighting through his pain (emotional fighting mostly that then showed up in physical ways.)
And don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging my friend. He’s like a brother. I identify with his suffering. A lot. I love him to the depths of my soul. And I want so badly to help him that I literally take on some of his physical sensations when I am around him.
And here is where he and I are different: I finally listened to my soul. I did the unthinkable. I quit my job. I quit my identity. I QUIT it all. I leaped.
Sometimes your life needs you to heed the call and make radical leaps of ridiculous faith.
Leaps of “I-have-no-idea-what-the-hell-I’m-doing-and-I’m-scared-sh*tless.”
Leaps that give the finger to doing the same things over and over expecting something to change. (Thank you Einstein for that truly genius insight.)
Your soul didn’t get that memo about just spinning in hell. The memo was: Life is a rollercoaster and you’re going to ride it until you get off at the stop called Your Purpose.
Are you in the “spin cycle?” Do you identify with Mike?
Are physical signs showing themselves? Insomnia, weird heart stuff, depression, anxiety that wakes you up at 3 am, fatigued no matter what, brain fog, autoimmune issues, etc.?
Maybe emotional signs are there: simmering anger or fear, apathy, feeling out of control, emotional ups and downs beyond logical reason.
Do you ask yourself, “What’s wrong with me? Why am I so broken?”
Do you beat yourself up with negative mind chatter? Do you openly say things to attack yourself? Do you just keep grinding through hoping it will all magically fix itself?
Do you know there must be something more, but you have no idea what it is or how to get there?
GUESS WHAT? THAT IS YOUR SOUL TALKING TO YOU. It’s time to listen.

Here’s a radical idea: do something radical. Quit your crap-ass job. Take an art class (yes), blog about stuff. Find your passion. NOW.
Quit making excuses like, “Well you’re a girl, you can do all this nurturing stuff,” or “But how will I pay the mortgage?” You’ll find a way. Trust me. You have to. It’s too important not to do this work.
I have done a lot of radical things lately. Like quitting. Like taking pottery. Like blogging my inner-most fears and thoughts. Like going to Gratitude Training. (Life-changing experiential and deep work that is amazing.)
(SIDE NOTE: I have no idea what I’m going to end up doing. My passion is kinda blurry. So I’m in healing mode. Listen-only mode. And I have radical faith the answers will come. Some already have.)
Reading a book is fine, but it ain’t gonna “fix” the broken bits. Yoga is wonderful, but it won’t do it all for you either. Meditation is a MUST, in addition to your radical leap.
Sorry to tell you this, but the moral of this story is: You’re going to have to actually let go to feel whole and healed.
If you hear the whisper, feel the tapping or the wallop… then you’re spinning and it’s time to leap.
DO IT. Because please tell me how what you’re doing now is working out for you? Yep, me either.
Mike if you’re reading this, and I know you are, I LOVE YOU my friend and I am cheering you on. I know you’ll get there because I am.


