Have you ever been told to stop and think something through? I have. It is a really good thing to have a plan before you start. If you don't know where your destination is how do you know what direction to go. I have also discovered there is such a thing as thinking
too much. What happens if you think too much .... NOTHING.
That's right nothing happens. Your brain goes on overload and stops. You start to question everything. Am I really doing this right? Should I say that or maybe this? Will the couch look better over there or should I put it here? Should I go or should I stay? AAAGH!!!! Help someone please turn off my mind or hit reboot or something.
My first brush with this was in high school. When I was in drivers education, I had the hardest time learning to turn a corner without over turning the wheel. My instructor finally told me don't look at where you are, look at where you want to go. I was looking so hard at the curb to make sure I didn't hit it, that I turned the wheel right into it every time. When I stopped watching the curb and started watching the road I quit hitting the curb. But the lesson of over thinking didn't sink in at that time.
I became conscious of this phenomenon when I was teaching dance. The owner brought in a well known dancer to teach a class to the staff. The class was great, but he ended it by telling us to think about how you moved your foot when you walked. You need to use that same movement when you glide through your dance steps. When you walk you lead with your heal, roll on to the ball of the foot and through to the end of the toe. When your toe leaves the floor, your other heel should already be in contact with the floor.
We all thanked him very much for the class. Then the owner stuck her head into the room and told us to come into the office for a quick meeting. The office was just on the other side of the dance floor. All we had to do is walk across the floor and through the door. All 15 teachers just stood there. We were thinking so hard about how to walk we couldn't take the first step.
All of us where thinking along the same lines .... What is the big deal I have been walking since I was a toddler and I can't even put one foot on the floor. Do I start with the right foot or the left? I got to remember to lead with the heal and roll onto the foot and what???
This is crazy I know how to walk.
Then we all stopped thinking so much. We leaned forward and let our mind and body do what it was meant to do. No, not fall flat on our faces. But I must admit for a split second I thought that might happen. We walked across the floor.
This taught me a very valuable lesson. If you try to think of every movement and every thought before you make it, you will never take that first step. No matter if it is writing, sports, your job or just your life. You need to think about were you are going, yes have a plan. But, you also have to let go and trust yourself. Stop thinking so hard about the journey and start thinking about the destination. You will be fine, and you will enjoy the ride a whole lot more.
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| from Wikimedia Commons |
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu
