I asked this question on Facebook and got a number of answers (thank you, brave souls) that boiled down to two main obstacles:
- FEAR
- Timing
Timing, I get, and I support that. Some movements in our lives need us to, as Captain Jack Sparrow says, “wait for the opportune moment.”
An example would be when I knew I wanted to change my last name, several years after my divorce. I knew I didn’t want to revert to my maiden name, but I no longer felt that my ex-spouse’s name fit me. And I didn’t know what name would. So I waited, and listened, and checked in, until six months later, I got it.
That was not a comfortable waiting period. A number of times, I just wanted to push forward and make the change. But the timing wasn’t right. The answer wasn’t here yet. I had to live my way into the answer.*
So what about fear as an obstacle to taking action? What are we afraid of?
Mostly it sounds like we are afraid of the world discovering that we aren’t worthy. Or we are afraid of discovering it ourselves. Like it’s some dark secret we have stashed inside our souls and we are just walking around in the world pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes. “Ha ha! Fooled you into thinking I’m normal/healthy/sane/worthy!”
Some folks also talked about indecision or lack of clarity, but I’m gonna tell you that indecision is actually this same fear in disguise. It’s easier for our self-protective impulses to keep us confused than actually have us face the bare facts and confront the fear.
The first words that made a crack in my story of unworthiness came from Marianne Williamson. I was watching an excellent movie called Akeelah and the Bee, and the talented child actress Keke Palmer reads these words aloud:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
I cried as she continued the passage, which reminded me that OF COURSE I am powerful, and I am ALLOWED to be.
SO ARE YOU.
Confronting the lie that you are not worthy isn’t easy. It takes effort and practice and a little real magic to retrain your brain to stop running that story. It is completely possible and completely NECESSARY, though.
Instead of running from this false story, wouldn’t you rather spend your life energy on creating positive change in the world? This unworthiness lie is the very thing KEEPING you from your power.
Which brings us back to the question– What holds you back from taking action?
Is it your story? That can be changed.
Your beliefs? THOSE can be changed.
Your feelings? Your internal sabotages? Your spiritual contracts? Your ancestral loyalties?
ALL of these can be changed.
Because I share a lot of my life and process on social media, people remark on the changes I make in my life and how quickly I make them. There’s a longer answer to make here, but in brief, I think it’s because I made it my life’s mission to understand my quickest AND healthiest path to moving forward. In other words, how to identify what is holding me back and then how to take action to release it.
As I was writing this article, I understood that there are four doors I look through when I am identifying and releasing whatever stops me from action. Let’s call them the Four Doorways to Healthy Power.
Obstacles to action can be hiding in our minds, our hearts, our bodies, or even in the unseen, but highly relevant, ancestral and energy planes. Using tools from each of these Doorways, we can ALWAYS find a way to release what holds us back from our power.
While we can’t do anything about the timing that stops us from taking action, we CAN and MUST work to free ourselves from the fears that hold us back. The world NEEDS you, good-hearted soul. You are here with a Divine purpose. Your voice and your action MATTER.
This is your invitation to the change you know you’ve been waiting for. This is the TIME.
* Thanks to Rainer Maria Rilke