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Leaping Into Your Life’s Work

Managing your self-critic so you can begin your life mission.

By Michae baisdenPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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I recently read an article on Oprah.com titled “How to Take a Leap and Make a Perfect Landing” and I thought to myself: I’ve done my share fair of leaping in the last 6 years.

  • Moving 1,000 miles away from home to attend university.
  • Moving even FURTHER to pursue career dreams.
  • Then when those dreams seemed distant and unattainable – selling my car to travel with a friend in South America,
  • then traveling around Southeast Asia alone.

My most recent leap was moving to Australia, where I had just one friend and no promise of a job. I definitely love dramatic leaps. And when you come away with only minor scratches, you become more motivated to continue jumping. But nothing will come close to the leap I will attempt next.

And it’s not a leap to a destination.

It’s a leap into my heart’s desire

…and that’s why I’ve been running from this leap for so long.

Now, these previous leaps weren’t less important, they were just less risky.

Maybe not to onlookers – “Moving so far from home?” “Traveling around COLOMBIA!?” “Southeast Asia?! Do you know the language?” “What will you do there?” they’d ask breathlessly.

I brushed off concerns and disapproval. A character trait my mom can attest to — If I say I’m going to do something, I do it. Except this next thing. This next thing scares me. I say I want to do it, then find excuses not to. I’ve allowed fear to stagnate me, even though it is love who calls me.

So what is this love-based leap I will attempt next?

Well there is no ONE thing but about a year ago I discovered my life’s mission. What I believe is my service to this magnificent world: To help people realize they have the power to heal themselves (There! I said it. I made it real).

Right now, the way in which I hope to do that is by teaching yoga. I’ve made lesson plans, started thinking of business names, I even wanted to start teaching in Australia and called various studios to ask about room rental. But planning is the fun part. It’s the ‘doing’ that I’m resisting.

For over a year, I’ve made excuses as to why I can’t start my life’s mission:

“You’re too young.”“You don’t know enough.”“You won’t make enough money.”“What if no one cares…”

And many other variations of self-sabotage. Yes, this will be my greatest leap because it is a leap based purely on love. I love speaking with people, I love storytelling and the energy it can provide to a room… that moment when someone shares something and you gasp, “Me too!”

Ooh the connectivity!

If that moment was a thing I would cuddle up with it every night. If only we could gather more often – to share, listen, touch and feel – love and inspiration would flood that room! Barriers break once you hear that your brother or sister has your same struggle. Oprah always asks her guests, “What’s one thing you know for sure?” I may not be on Super Soul Sunday anytime soon but Oprah, one thing I do know is that we need one another.

Those who are struggling in their darkness, and those who have seen the light need one another equally. Because those tables will turn! I have so much passion when I talk about women becoming their greatest self. I get so much joy when I see men remove themselves from society’s idea of “who they should be”. I become a better version of myself when I see others come into their own knowing and accept themselves for the complex humans they are. I want to create a community where everyone can self-express because I know the world will be better for it.

But in order to get to free self-expression, you have to get to the work of healing yourself. And I hope to facilitate my community in doing just that – by coupling my love of storytelling with the healing principles and practices of yoga. I believe this is my “call to action” and that I have diverted from this call for far too long.

But y’know what?

In reality, I don’t regret not leaping before because all my previous leaps have taught me how to land. I’ve learned the safety features of the harness, prepared my mind for what might happen during the descent, and although I cannot predict how I’ll land, I have taught myself how to get back up and clear out the debris after a crash.

It was not me alone who got to this place of preparedness. I would like to give my deepest gratitude to my mom. Her unwavering belief in my abilities and potential is what I needed to get to the side of this cliff. I know we will be hand-in-hand the whole way down.

Thank you for your words. The world needs more empowering women like you. And I’m gonna give it to ’em 😉

May we all make courageous leaps of love, the world will be better for it.

Aho.

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