{"id":1330,"date":"2013-04-02T13:41:17","date_gmt":"2013-04-02T20:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redshoezone.ca\/?p=1330"},"modified":"2016-04-16T10:36:09","modified_gmt":"2016-04-16T17:36:09","slug":"sometimes-you-have-to-close-your-eyes-and-jump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/sometimes-you-have-to-close-your-eyes-and-jump\/","title":{"rendered":"sometimes you have to close your eyes and jump"},"content":{"rendered":"
My preferred method of facing down\u00a0fear has always been to squeeze my eyes shut and jump<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Although not for everyone, it\u2019s the one way I can ensure I don\u2019t think too much, if I even start the over think cycle I\u00a0immediately\u00a0fling open the doors to the inner critic who starts babbling incessantly and provides me with a million reasons why I can\u2019t\/shouldn\u2019t do something.<\/p>\n
The jumping strategy\u00a0comes from 20 years working as a television actor. The worst place an actor can be is in their head. Those performances are \u2018acted\u2019 — not real, not believable\u2026.completely forgettable. My modus operandi was to make my character choices, commit fully, let go and jump. Improv was a whole other ball of wax, there was NO time to even consider choices it was simply \u2013 jump<\/i>.\u00a0\u00a0This\u00a0resembles\u00a0jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet. But you get used to it and I carried it forward.<\/p>\n
So jumping it is–except when it’s not\u2026.sometimes the free fall is just too scary and another strategy is called for. ENTER…..small steps to get past GO. I recently took some of those…. they were smaller than small they were\u2026..teensy<\/i>.<\/p>\n
I had the idea for this blog – talking to mid life women who (like me) wanted Part 2 of their lives to be characterized by living their dreams fearlessly. Not a bad start. But<\/i> (it\u2019s never good when that <\/i>word pop up) I\u2019m a talker (accomplished one) not a writer and OMG <\/i>on top of that I\u2019d have to deal with technology. UGH. Still the\u00a0desire persisted so I considered what the small steps could be. Broken down I could breath and the joy returned. I was able to get into ACTion, disarm fear and move little by little. Here’s an account of my steps.<\/p>\n
I started talking about it (making it real and me accountable), I researched what was out there specifically for the mid life woman ( lots under the crisis, depression and menopause headings), looked at other blogs to assess style and design, I contacted a web designer and met with her, I started writing (for myself), I contracted said web designer to\u00a0 design site, I continued writing (deleting much of it) looking for a style to emerge,\u00a0 I told my family and close friends what I was doing,I asked 3 friends (all with different perspectives) if they would read my first 30 days and report back with critiques and comments,.<\/p>\n
I created a safe environment for me to play and grow.<\/p>\n
I took my next baby steps by creating a red shoe facebook page. Then a small step I sent emails, catching up with\u00a0friends and telling them about the Red Shoe Zone. I learned how to issue facebook invites and clicked \u2013SEND.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where I am today\u20262 months down the path and ready to take bigger steps.<\/p>\n
Breaking it down I can celebrate\u00a0and savour all parts of the journey and disarm fears bit by bit. I’m loving it.<\/p>\n
\u201cA journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.\u201d<\/i> Lao-Tzu<\/p>\n
If you liked this piece please share it with friends and like it on Facebook.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My preferred method of facing down\u00a0fear has always been to squeeze my eyes shut and jump. Although not for everyone, it\u2019s the one way I can ensure I don\u2019t think too much, if I even start the over think cycle I\u00a0immediately\u00a0fling open the doors to the inner critic who starts babbling incessantly and provides meRead More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[81,100,163,256],"class_list":{"0":"post-1330","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-inspiration","8":"tag-fear","9":"tag-goals","10":"tag-life","11":"tag-women","12":"entry","13":"genesis-grid"},"yoast_head":"\n