The Necklace of Life

BY KEISHA JOHNSON

Sometimes when we are in the midst of uncertainty it is difficult to know which decision to trust. Especially when the choices we face are time sensitive, competing or challenge our ideals.

We can either throw caution to the wind and risk the unknown or vacillate between indecision and procrastination.

One thing is clear, experiences are like beads strung on the necklace of life. Their real beauty and value may not be fully evident until they are strung together. More importantly, what those beads look like are determined by the choices we make.

This truth came home forcefully to me recently and reinforced some invaluable lessons too good to keep hidden.

Descramble the Fear of Loss: I’ve been itching to move forward with a long held vision. Out of the blue an opportunity came to fulfill it. It seemed good. Checked most of my ideals. But something was missing. It wasn’t evident what that was, but I had a limited window to make a decision whether to take the opportunity or not. The anxiety of ‘what ifs’ loomed and a quandary of questions engulfed me.

Do I run with the opportunity or do I risk everything and give it up? If I do, what other options are available to make this dream a reality? In what timeframe and what will it take? If I proceed, what am I compromising? Is that compromise redeemable? How? When? What impact would it have on the vision? What is the absolute worst that could happen?

Have you ever been there? The fear of loss was about to entangle me in chaos. These were all worthwhile questions. But as I thought about them I recognized that they were all fear based. A great realization but still no decision was forthcoming and everyone invested began to lose patience with me. To get clarity demanded a different approach. My Mom challenged me to ditch my comfort zone and launch out into deeper waters. In my gut I knew she was right and in my gut I knew that was scary as hell!

Get to Visioning: Unwilling to let the unknowns usurp wisdom and peace of mind, I pulled back and quieted my mind. I heard Napolean Hill quietly echoing, “Whatever the heart of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” In stillness and solitude I envisioned the best possible outcomes; the most extravagant fulfillment of my vision. I pushed my brain beyond the present opportunity, financial constraints, insufficient knowledge, professional inexperience and every other limitation to a new limitless ideal.

Embrace Clarity: In that moment I began to see the forest and not just the trees. The decision became clear. This opportunity was not the vehicle to fulfill the vision, instead it was a catalyst to envision a bigger vision with greater possibilities. It ignited in me a fervor to pursue this dream beyond the small beginning I originally had in mind and expand to greater terrain. I could see it, touch it, and feel it!

With that bit of clarity, the fear of a missed opportunity yielded to the reality of attaining something beyond my capacity. I began to share the revised bigger vision and immediately it started to attract the required resources to fulfill it.

Recalibrate and proceed with great expectations: What appeared to be my big break became a stepping stone and a precedent for when uncertainty and the fear of loss looms, to be bold and courageous and proceed knowing that: where I am at and whatever I am facing may just be a starting point on which to build, that there is nothing to fear but fear itself and that visioning doesn’t cost anything. Therefore I can give myself permission to dream big and embrace a reality of limitless possibilities. Then watch it come together.

This experience has fulfilled its purpose. We can now string it on the necklace of life to be a reference when next it becomes difficult to see the forest for the trees.