The only way to get started on something new, the only way to begin.. is by beginning, throwing yourself fully vulnerable into that first curious, awkward, fumbling, unknown, unsure step and teetering, elated that for this moment, you have neither walked or fallen. In this moment of teetering, you simply and proudly are the momentum that has 'begun' and in 'this now' you experience no fear, no failure, no success or win... there is just a breath of upright movement, suspended in the art of your first conscious creation, your first step!
Babies have a knack for doing this... for pulling themselves upright on tender wobbling feet, still plumply rounded with curled toes, yet in that moment of their first step, there is no deep seated fear of what will become of their unsure feet, no pondering of the perfect footing, no mulling over what they will look like ambling toward their first fall.
They take their first risk in life with a drooling giggle and a determined smile... and yes, most likely they will topple this first time, but for them, it is just another momentum between teetering and stepping again. There could be no experience of this falling, if not for the stepping, the leaping or flying.. the falling means they have stood.
I found recently that the word 'happy' derives from the same root as 'to happen'. I believe this means that to be happy, one must be fully involved and conscious in the experience of what is happening.. much like the baby being wholly present with their first step, the only step on their mind, in that moment. You have something in your heart that calls you... we all do. I picture the baby's mom or dad across the room clapping and holding their hands out toward their wobbling little one and I imagine the dream in our heart and the spirit of our own possibility reaching out to us in much the same way, cheering you, so proud of you... anxiously awaiting your first step, saying... come to me!
If you are reading this, you are a heartist in the waking... your dream is waiting and anticipating you, however awkward and uncertain your first endearing footfall is, however tender and unsure your barefeet have become... happiness is in the happening and it's yours for the waking.
I wish you many messy teetering wobbles, many first determined smiles and just enough falls to know you can fly.
Take the initiative and start ~ Ecclesiastes 9:10
Talesha Hogan - Heartist
