Making It Happen or Allowing It to Unfold?

As I work on my big ideas for 2009, I often find myself caught in a tug of war between making something happen and allowing it to unfold.

Throughout my life, I have often been rewarded for making things happen. I completed schoolwork, joined committees, held leadership roles. I was busy, busy, busy. And the emotional and financial rewards followed.

What I am realizing now is that those well-rewarded actions were always contained within a fairly tight set of parameters. Even the leadership roles were within organizations that had missions, precedents, and traditions. Now that I am seeking to fulfill a mission of my own, the parameters are less defined. And precedents and traditions only exist within the models set by others.

Also true of my past achievements was that the other people involved were in place before I got there. I would step into a role and take action with or for those people. Now that I am setting my own course, the other people have yet to appear, which they will do only at my invitation.

As I walk this path of following my heart and creating my destiny, it often feels like I am pushing on a string. I no longer have the luxury of a predictable outcome when taking an action. There are too many unknowns to set parameters, and other people may or may not accept my invitation.

Thus, I find myself in a position of allowing things to unfold--not easy for an over-achiever, but perfect nonetheless.

Consider that there is a continuum between Making It Happen and Allowing It to Unfold. What if I seek a balance, sometimes taking action on the make-it-happen side, and sometimes sitting still on the allow-it-to-unfold side. As a continuum, there can be more or less acting, or more or less stillness in any given moment.

Accepting this balance, I needn't be pushing on a string or feeling the resulting frustration. Rather, that time and energy can be spent listening, meditating, or thinking--intentional, receptive activities. Within such moments, perhaps the parameters and the people have a chance to show up. And maybe some inspiration, light, and joy, too.

What a concept!

In Pursuit of Big

So I've got some Big Plans for 2009. Maybe you do, too.

As I stated in my previous post, I believe that big is subjective. In other words, only I get to decide what's big for me. But by definition, something is big for me if it's bigger than anything I've done before.

And that means to pursue the big thing, I must step into the Unknown. And that step generates Fear of the Unknown. Which means that some loud voice in my head says, "Don't go there! Stay here where it's familiar and safe!"

To counter the fears and respond to that loud voice, I bring to mind something in my past that was big to me at the time. And I consider what I did to successfully achieve that big thing, seeking guidance or a blueprint that I might apply to this one.

For me, today, I look to my recent hike of the Appalachian Trail for inspiration. (See my hiking blog for details.) The hiking itself wasn't the big part for me, as I'd hiked 1000 miles previously; not much Unknown there. But, considering the whole of quitting my job, selling my house, living homefree, hiking, and starting a new chapter in life, there was plenty of Unknown to be found.

Despite the fears of that Unknown, I took steps to make it happen, or more accurately, to allow it to unfold. And now I am an A.T. 2000-Miler and well into the brilliant new chapter in my life.

May I follow in those footsteps to allow the unfolding of my Big Plans for 2009!