Ride The Pony

I decided I wanted to try my hand at writing, so I created a blog. Not surprisingly, I suddenly have nothing to write about. Another in a long line of great ideas that paralyzes me the minute it becomes a reality.

What is it about new challenges and experiences that just stalls some of us out? Is it fear of failure, or fear of success? Do we secretly think we don't deserve to be successful? Are we afraid of being scoffed at? Perhaps it's a dread of losing control. What if that great idea takes over my life and I no longer have the freedom to come up for air?

One of the hardest things for me to learn was that people don't really pay that much attention to anything outside of themselves - chances are they aren't watching as close as you think they are! If you fail, you've still gained a lot of valuable experiences, and sometimes failures can open the door to other successful endeavors. Sometimes it can bring you down a road you never even knew existed! In a sense, there is no such thing as failure, only opportunities to learn and grow.

Perversely, the thought of success can be equally paralyzing. Yes, you laugh at the notion, but try explaining how silly that idea is to a Type A personality that must be in control of everything at all times. The mere notion of anything getting out of hand can send us into fits of the vapors. It's very easy to forget that we're in the driver's seat and can control our success, so there's nothing to fear from it.

And just try to explain the concept that success is reachable to someone with self-esteem issues. It can be a Herculean task to overcome the idea that we don't deserve to be successful in at least one arena in life. The truth is, we all deserve success, and we all have something wonderful and unique to offer the world.

Maybe it's time to just saddle up and ride that pony for all it's worth. After all, we only live once.