"Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now." -Epictetus
Recently I was flying into Seattle on a business trip, coming in over the Cascade Mountain Range. In the morning light, their peaks brightly point to the blue sky while the dark shades of the forest line reveal the scattering darkness.
This particular morning clouds had filled the valleys and low areas between the undulating mountains. It was a thick covering that looked very much like a pillowy white blanket covering the landscape. Knowing we would be landing soon, I also knew that we would have to immerse ourselves into this blanket of white.
So with faith in the plane's technology, the skill of the pilot and a touch of excitement, down into the cloud we went. I had a vision in my mind of what awaited us. I believed that we would get through and safely onto the ground. But for a moment, we have to just reconcile ourselves to believe we are prepared for anything that happens.
The same can be said of most anything we attempt or involve ourselves in. We dream of great things in our life. We dream of doing much more but hesitate when we see a blanketing cloud of the unknown. We become afraid to immerse ourself into something if we can not see beyond it.
The future is not something we can see beyond the present. We can only envision it and then have the confidence to go forward. When we decide not to enter that cloud of the unknown, all we end up doing is circling round and round for a lifetime. All the while, what you want in life is just beyond the white fluffy cloud cover.
Choose to immerse yourself in the unknown. To achieve success, dreams or goals, you will have accept that things are not going to be worked out ahead of time. There will be moments of sheer terror, moments of disappointment and moments of failure. But there will also be the ability to learn, new opportunity and success.
Take yourself beyond where you stand today. Do not be afraid of the unknown. Soon you will find yourself on the ground standing right where you wanted to be, dreams fulfilled.
