Has this ever happened to you:
You're going along in life... reaching for your goal... working hard to get there... Knowing that you need to make that goal to move on...
Then the most exciting thing happens: You reach your goal! Congratulations...
NOW WHAT!!!
I get the whole "never reach a goal without having another already in your sight" idea. But what I'm actually trying to convey here, poorly, I know, is the point of reaching a goal, an event, everything you've wanted, what you've worked towards and now you have it. Now it is actually happening.
And you freeze!
NOW WHAT???
This just happened to me. And once the excitement died down and once I found myself alone with, well... me, I kind of freaked out. Now what? Now I have to proof to myself and everyone else that this WAS a good thing to shoot for, that I needed to do this. A very scary moment. It almost stopped me in my tracks and immobilized me. I just couldn't see the next step in this adventure. I started to question my path. Should I have pursued this? Was it the right thing to do???
How does one get through, go over, go around?
I guess, first of all, FORGIVENESS TO SELF is a huge component here. If things don't work, at least you tried. We're not Super Women. We are all doing the very best we can! I know we can be harder on our own actions than of the actions of others. Be aware of that and cut yourself some slack.
Next, my friend, IT IS OK TO CHANGE YOUR MIND! There are no rules here. It is not a failure to change your mind. I have some very specific ideas for a few projects, but otherwise it's basically trial by error. And even for those projects I imagine them turning out different, better than what I originally had in mind.
OWN IT. Own your goal. You worked hard to get here, so own it, be in it. Give it your best shot. For me it means accepting how different my life is now. There is grief that shows its face here and there from the past. Grief for when life was "normal". But in the end what I tend to miss is the familiar, which I often confuse with feeling safe and secure... And, if you've ever watched "Knight and Day" (one of my favorite movies), whenever you hear the words 'safe and secure'... RUUUUUUUNNNN!
REMEMBERING is the next step... remember all the times you've reached a goal, something huge to you, and it turned out well. Well, why not this time?!? What's so special about this time that it wouldn't, shouldn't turn out right?
PUSH THROUGH. Do what needs doing to move is a huge component here. If things don't work out, at least you tried. We're not Super Women. We are all doing the very best we can! I know we can be harder on our own actions than ofn the actions of others. Be aware of that and cut yourself some slack.ack.ack.ck.k.
You'll get there, you'll keep going, STEP BY STEP... some little, some huge.
BE PROUD OF YOURSELF! I am. Proud of you, that is.
And always remember: YOU ARE NEVER ALONE! As a friend recently reminded me with a twinkle in her eye ;)