The Sword and the Trapeze

In his ‘Daily Dynamite’ message yesterday morning my friend Phil Olley reminded me about what happens when you and I decide that we want to move on, or forward, or up – whichever way you look at it.

You see, despite the fact that you and I have a vision about where we want to go and have goals, targets and plans supporting it, sometimes things just don’t go as we expected.

Sometimes it’s a diversion or delay caused by ‘roadworks’ in our path over which we have no control.

Sometimes you and I get stuck in the mud of our current comfort zone and find it difficult to leave this behind before moving to the next one.

Sometimes an unexpected circumstance collides with us, throwing us off balance. This could be a business competitor coming up with an ‘unbeatable’ deal, or it could be an economic change like a sudden ‘recession’, or it could be a health or relationship challenge.

When you and I are faced with ‘problems’ like these, the natural instinct is for the brain to go into problem solving mode and we are drawn to focussing on the issue we are faced with.

What happens is that we find it hard to resist the temptation of attempting to untangle the Gordian Knot we’ve been presented with and this preoccupation tends to hold us in place where we are and put travelling the path towards our vision on one side.

There are two things you and I must do to get out of this.

First of all, like Alexander, take the ‘Sword of Truth’ and cut the knot.

Stop.    Examine the ‘problem’.

Is it part of the journey we are on, or is it a distraction?

A distraction?

The ‘blockage’ has to be removed so all you and I have to do is decide how to cut it away. (This is where ‘masterminding’ comes in by the way.)

You and I have to stop thinking about the problem and what we can do about the problem and use the sword of truth.

The truth is not how we can find a solution, “what can I do about this problem”, but “what do I want to do”. That’s the sword we use to cut the knot.

Once you and I explore and focus on what we want to do rather than what we could do to solve the issue that’s facing us, then the answer will become clear.

No problem can exist without an answer – if there wasn’t an answer it wouldn’t be a problem. But the answer isn’t in the problem. The answer for you and I is in our vision (or ‘dream’ as our American cousins would have it).

You and I use the sword of truth which represents our vision and our goals to remove the obstacles in our way.

But I said there were two things . . .

Once we’ve removed the blockage we need to move on.

Because if we don’t you and I risk getting deeper into the quicksand of our comfort zone, and we run the risk of more ‘problems’ appearing that we have to then get out of our way.

Think of it this way.

You’re a trapeze artist, and you’re swinging on the trapeze bar contemplating the empty bar that is swinging towards you.

You’re in your ‘comfort zone’ – but you can see the new one you really want to get to.

And you can see the void in between.

The big drop – and no safety net.

You have the momentum.

You know you can safely reach the next trapeze bar if you simply let go . . .

But what about that drop – that empty blackness – what if ‘it doesn’t work’ – what if you decide to let go and the laws of physics stop working for a moment . . .

And you fall . . .

I’m about to let go.

See you on the next bar.