You Don’t Need to Feel Ready (JHP Day 21)

Another week, and another weekend, marking the last few days of the JHP series.

Today, I want to talk about challenges. Obstacles that stop us from doing the things we want to do.

They come in many forms - physical and mental. They disguise themselves as other things, including their opposites - things we think will help us in our lives.

I think a lot of the time we come face to face with them, these walls that we can't seem to break through, because we think we lack something.

Inspiration, when we feel like we can't create. Mental wellbeing, when we're stressed. Courage, when we have to confront someone. Intelligence, when we're anxious about knowing what we must.

We think we aren't ready. Not able to succeed, not possessing the tools or resources that we need.

But there's one lesson I've come to understand about all the things I feel I'm not ready to take on.

You are. If you're thinking about doing it, you're ready.

Ready to do that thing that's been scaring you, making you feel uncomfortable and uneasy, but constantly drawn back to its thought, like a door that's urging you to open it.

Because to linger and wait is to resign yourself to a bleak reality where you'll never know what's beyond it. And that fate - that insidious shadow of regret -  is often worse than any discomfort on the other side.

I like to think of a new experience as one of two things - a success, laden with rewards, tools and resources (be they mental or physical) to continue forward - or a lesson, to draw knowledge and wisdom from, whether it comes from negative feelings or positive ones. It lets me convert every bad experience into a good one.

I'd be lying if I said it was a seamless process to react to every situation like that. We're all human - we break and bend when faced with the challenges of the world, whatever they may be. But that doesn't stop us from coming back.

Any new experience is a chance to grow.

One clear truth that I can't seem to deny having understood as much as I have about us as a species, is that as long as we don't die, we always come back stronger. If not physically, then mentally. If not mentally, then spiritually.

Flow with the challenges that you face. Do what it takes - what your own self is asking of you deep down, to make you proud.

Funny thing is, this entire post stemmed from me forgetting my laptop charger on the train home. Without a charger, my laptop was essentially useless. Without a laptop, I couldn't script my posts. I couldn't draft and redraft, and so today's blog (and most likely tomorrow's) was almost scrapped.

And that's when inspiration struck. So here I am, typing this on my phone just before midnight - a message to anyone reading that you already have what you need to start. It just takes a bit of effort.

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