The strangest thing kept happening to me last week and early this week when I tried to visit my site. Instead of seeing what you are seeing right now – the purple and gray background, the custom-designed butterfly and its watermark, and everything in the sidebars – I saw a white page with a different butterfly and nothing that really looked like my site. The first time I saw it, I gasped and said, “What the…??” and furrowed my brows at this strange page before me.
Within a split second, I realized that this was, indeed, my page…it was my page about 7 months ago. And yet, it is so foreign to me today that I felt an absolute disconnect from it when it showed up on my screen. What the heck is this??
What’s really comical about this is that when I was about to make the huge leap from that page to this page, I was really nervous: would my new site be easy to navigate? Would I like using it? Would I feel connected to it? Obviously, those are no longer issues.
What this prompts me to think about then, is how often do we stick with what we’re accustomed to for fear of all the what if’s that may be lying in wait when we make a jump to something new?
And it also makes me think about how much we identify with what is now, even if it is ever-changing. For example, as I’ve heard Wayne Dyer say, let’s look at our bodies. My 5 year old body no longer exists. There is not a single cell left of that 5 year old body. Yet, when I was 5 years old, I would have definitely attributed the word “me” to the person I saw in the mirror, to the hands that played in the sandbox, to the hair that I wish would have been longer. And I would have said without a doubt that that body was real.
Right now, I’m 34 and my current body is the one I identify with. In the blink of an eye, at 64, my body will be completely different. And yet, whatever body is my current state is the one I think is really me – that’s the one I think is real.
What about you? What leaps of faith have you had to take, or are you on the verge of? What has been scary about this process? What has been exhilarating? Please share in the comments below!
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This topic is so timely for me. I was just discussing it earlier today with my partner. I’m in the process of moving and I’m feeling separation anxiety about the home we are leaving. I can’t even imagine us living in the new one.
What if it’s too small? What if we don’t feel as safe in the new neighborhood? What will I do without a “Sprouts” grocery store down the block? What? No Home Depot? Now I have to shop at Lowes? Where will we hang that gigantic poster now? And the worst of the worst – no folding table in the laundry room!!
On the other hand, downsizing will mean that we won’t be throwing hundreds of dollars in the the giant hole in the backyard known as the pool, yes, the pool that we use about 3 times a year. We’ll be going from a tropical landscape that needs constant watering and maintenance to a great desert landscape with just a couple of bushes to trim. We’ll save a ton of money on heating and cooling because the new house has solar screens and twice the insulation.
I called a friend to whine today and she pooh poohed me. “I know you,” she said. In two weeks you’ll have your stamp all over that new house, and you’ll feel right at home.”
I guess that’s what you’re telling me as well.
Hi Denise! Moving homes is a classic example – thanks for sharing! I’m sure we can all relate to this one 🙂 Good luck with the move and let us know how much you love it once you’re settled in!