Firsts

Have you ever started something that you've never done before, and even though you have no idea what you’re doing, your actions feel right? You feel incredibly passionate and fired up about what you want to achieve and the fire inside of you outweighs the fear of being stuck in figuring out all of the ‘how’s. Always these experiences come with a lot of "firsts". The first time you do this or the first time you do that....and because there are so many firsts, many of them don't get done perfectly, but you keep going anyway because you feel so aligned and excited about what you’re looking to achieve that perfection doesn’t matter.

“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” 

~ Kurt Vonnegut

Now more than ever I have felt like a student of this lesson. My writing experience before starting my book—ZERO. My self publishing experience—even less than zero.

Kurt Vonnegut said it best, but before I ever read his quote, the image I frequently got while on this writing journey was running through fog. I kept running because I knew it would lead me to my goal, even though I’d trip on a tree root, or smack myself against a wall or stumble into a puddle.

Despite the tripping, the smacking and the stumbling, I kept running through the fog, knowing more obstacles would appear without much warning because I trusted I could still get up, fix my wounds and keep going.

And while I am so grateful my book is in readers hands and I’m receiving incredible feedback, all of which was my ultimate goal, developing my wings has been one of the greatest gifts from this lesson.

And the best part of all is they’re not even close to being done.

I remember so many firsts after my traumatic experience. First nutritious meal. First night’s sleep without nightmares. First difficult situation where I handled myself better. If you have PTSD, do you know what I’m talking about?

And if you’re still struggling, can you appreciate that you’re a work in progress and your wings are so much more developed than they’ve ever been?

With that in mind, can you make the effort to do those firsts that your gut is telling you to do knowing that they’ll lead you to a peaceful place?