Get up, stand up

For those who know me, I am often dangerously confident- to the point of being intimidating.

But, like a delicious chocolate, I have a goey centre, and there are plenty of things that scare the hell out of me. 

Even while writing this my stomach is tied in knots, and I can't produce enough saliva to properly swallow the chocolate I just ate. 

Bravery is a concept I have often discussed in this blog. It's funny, I have no qualms about speaking in front of people (something many shake in their boots about) or worry about dancing like no one is watching. But some intimate confrontations and standing up for number one right now is what has me either giving myself epic pep talks or having to nervous pee every 20 mins. 

Wikihow gives us a fantastic set of steps to being brave. We learn bravery by naming and facing our fears, not letting them over come us.

Is the pain of not doing the thing you are afraid of greater than the fear itself?

Then do it.

When I was training in Gymnastics and Physical Education in Denmark, I learned to do crazy flips that I never thought I would have to do. One was a Tsukehara,  where you sprint up to a mini trampoline, put your hands on a vault that is taller than you, do like a roundoff into a back flip. I had someone spotting me, but every time I ran off to the side instead of jumping on the tramp and completing the skill. I got so wound up and mad at myself that when I finally did it, I couldn't believe what I was so scared about. 

We learn hopefulness through adversity.

We need to lean into situations where the outcome is unknown more often, grit teeth and feel the fear and do it anyway.

These things cost us nothing, (maybe a little dignity potentially) but enrich our lives so much. 

Sure, the knots are still there, but even people without guts of steel can get up and stand up when they want to give up.

If you have a lump in your throat or a knot in your gut know that there is magic in the world and in you- unleash it and see what happens.....I'm going to right this afternoon.

Jj

Don't say no to NOvember.

It's November. Spooky 

2017 is ever looming, and as much as we are hurrying up the warm weather, we are scratching our heads wondering why it's still not May. Or August.

But when I think back to this time last year, a hellofalot has happened and changed and grown and stayed the same.

Even if I think back to last month, a hellofalot has happened and changed and grown and stayed the same.

Does time go faster as we get older? Technically, no, but Phillip Yaffe puts it brilliantly when he says it's all to do with anticipation and retrospection:

Whatever the nature of our individual lives, we all anticipate things important to us. Then after they happen, we look back at them. For example, most school children look forward to the long summer vacation, which always seems to be an eternity away. Finally, it arrives. Then, almost before they blink an eye, it's over and they are back in school again.

Progressing from primary school to secondary school is another excruciating anticipation for a youngster, especially if the move is perceived as being an important step away from childhood into adulthood.

And so it goes. When anticipated, each new significant event seems to be excruciatingly far away. However, after the event, we regularly look back and exclaim. "Did it really happen that long ago?"

Our first love, our first heartbreak, driving a car, landing a job, marriage, etc. When we look forward, all these milestones seem impossibly far in the future. However once achieved, how quickly they recede into the past.

The older we get, the more milestones we have to look back on. So the farther and faster they appear to recede. So if sometimes the clock may seem to have stopped, the calendar always continues racing ahead.

I think retrospection is a beautiful thing. It helps us learn, change, and laugh when we have happy memories. It gives our lives texture. 

Fear of the future for me is more a fear of failure. That time will slip away and I will fail to do all the things I set out to do. But if we are forever running after the sand in the hour glass slipping by we don't get to stop and build a sand castle in said sand. 

Summer is here, so so soon, and I plan to stop and build a few sandcastles. 

Say yes to November, the looming festive season, which, as it is every year, is full on and creates much build up and tension. 

My show is on next week, after that I will have more time to consistently write on here!

Jj