“You have to buy the ticket”
There is this apparent cycle of change – growth and rest, ebb and flood. A simple cycle that seems to unfold, and we can see the intricate complexities inherent to simple systems that make them so… functional.
The waiting period. We don’t know what decision to make, we feel the tension that comes as we consider rushing past those feelings of uncertainty. The longing for certainty, for movement, for the freedom of having made a decision and now getting to act upon. There is a sweetness too when we let go of the push, we embrace the moment and have the opportunity to BE. As if we are suspended in space, in the in-between space where we have not yet landed in the next spot and we know that the previous one no longer has our name on it. Perhaps a time of emotions, but then perhaps they all are if we are aware of them.
There comes a time when we have waited long enough. We have used this space of differentiation to get clear on what it is that we are moving toward. What the deepest desires of our Being are, and there is a clarity, even if it is only slight, on the path that lay ahead. If nothing else, we know that what is behind us is behind us, and progress is to move away from that and toward the future, it is no longer tolerable to be where we have been.
The thing is, that if this is a growth path, which I believe that our souls long for, the path ahead is unfamiliar. It is uncertain in its outcome and the journey to get there because we have never been there before. We have never been there before in the way that we are about to be there now. We are standing on the precipice coming to terms with the call to step into the stretch zone, with the reality of the inevitability of moving forward into the unknown.
And at some point “you have to buy the ticket”. This phrase, though not unspoken prior, is inspiration from an interview on the adventure sports podcast with Steve Cannon. The two converse about the wonder of taking on adventures they never thought would be possible, that they could never been prepared enough for, and the magic that unfolds once you just decide, to buy the ticket, trust the process, and joy the journey.
We speak a lot of with our dollars, and we stretch ourselves with our purchases at times, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. We can literally buy the ticket, and where else in your life are you holding back from investing yourself? From committing in a way equal or greater to buying the ticket?
In this podcast, the journey in example was to fly from the lower 48 up to Alaska, buy a bike, and ride it back home. That ticket, though not that far in terms of flights around the world possible, but a huge leap into a journey of so many days, miles, and immeasurable growth. They discussed how you can always ask the question, “when will you be ready to go? A month from now, a year from now? Then go ahead and buy the ticket for then”. But it turns out, we are never really ready, and at some point you just have to decide to do it, and the rest follows.
