change is good. you go first.
Posted on 03. Mar, 2011 by Carrie in muse
words > JASON DILTS
Taken at its most literal meaning, a equinox is an event that takes places only twice annually, when the center of the sun is aligned in the same plane as the Earth’s equator. For a brief, beautiful moment the golden orb stands still, inviting us to awe at its warm glory vertically overhead and offering us equal hours of day and night. A new rotation then begins. Our lives are like a metaphorical equinox.
“Change is good. You go first”.
Those words were written on a button I saw a few months ago at a vintage store. The phrase jumped out playfully. The meaning stuck on seriously. It got me thinking about how easy it is to cling to things that are familiar. People, places, events, and times all weave imprints into the fabric of our souls. Then, change happens. People move. Places close. Events end. Time moves forward. We don’t always evolve so easily, though. Often we’re left feeling sad, lonely, and longing. Sometimes, you may feel like you’ve been equinox-sucker punched!
Maybe you’re stuck in a marriage that hasn’t been working for quite some time. Perhaps your career torments more than challenges. Maybe you cling to long-held religious beliefs or to an ideology that somehow isn’t adding up to meeting your spiritual and emotional needs any longer. Perhaps you daydream of friends who moved on to a life that doesn’t include you. Whatever the circumstance, anytime you find your mind wandering too much in the past or too far into “if only” or “what if” scenarios, it’s time to stop thinking and start doing.
Go first!
Say goodbye to people who are a drag on your development. Stop doing the things that wear you down. Acknowledge that who you were, while possibly once beautiful, isn’t who you always will be.
What exactly is it you do to fill in the gap of where you are and where you want to be? If you look closely, you’ll find the answer dancing around you. Most of us have desires we haven’t acted on and things we daydream about, but never do. Unsettling feelings are there to remind us that it’s time to take action. Do you have a talent—maybe writing, music, fashion, art, or athletics—that you haven’t fully developed? Is there a class you’ve always wanted to take to acquire a certain skill? Do you long to travel, but always find reasons to stay anchored? Is there a group you’ve been curious about, but never quite conjured the motivation to check out?
Go first!
Once you decide to cast aside the things in life that anchor you down, it’s imperative that you nurture those desires, because they will give you wings to fly. They’ll also lead you to the people who will bring you the most joy, and to the places where you’ll truly feel the most at home.
Just as the sun constantly ends and begins new rotations, so too do our lives glide in a series of equinox-like happenings. Unlike the sun, though, we’re holistic beings. Thought, emotion, and deliberation follow the flux of our existence. Get in tune with what’s internal. Fulfill the button’s lead, and go first.
