Take a risk

11/20/20 • 4 min

If it's still in your mind, it is worth taking the risk. Paulo Coelho. Many of us have wondered: what are we supposed to do with our lives? Even if we don't think about it all the time, at one point or another, we have wondered: when are we supposed to settle down or shake things up? Where are we supposed to be working? Where are we supposed to be spending our time? These questions don't have easy answers. And at the same time, it often feels like if you have them, then finally - you will be able to breathe! Finally, you'll be able to plan for the future and actually start to look ahead in a hopeful way. We hold back from taking risks, because to take a risk is to dive into the deep end of the unknown. And oh, wouldn't it just be so much easier to know? Wouldn't it just be so much easier to finally get clarity that says, this is what you were supposed to do! This is where you were supposed to be! This is the clear choice that you should make! But the beautiful reality is that even without those clear cut answers, we learn to keep going anyway. We learn to keep trusting even when we don't realize we are trusting. Every day is brand new, and we wake up not knowing what is going to happen, and yet we show up anyway. We do the work that needs to be done. Questions find us and we continue to become who we were meant to be. So now that you know this, I hope that today can be a day that you lean into the questions. Right here, right now, you are free to pay attention to all of the thoughts that cross your mind, all of the feelings that you are able to identify, and wonder again and again. Maybe it's through these things that I can find the courage and strength to keep going. One example of this is to pay attention to the things that make you angry. Some of us have been told that we should never be angry, or we should never show negative feelings. Yet, it is often our anger and our frustration that reveals what we're truly passionate about - what change we want to see in the world. Our strong feelings may not tell us exactly what we're supposed to be doing in this season of life, but they might just show us where we can start to look. They might just show us as Paulo Coelho says, where we might want to take a ris. For perhaps taking a risk is just another way of saying: I'm going to try this. I don't know how it's going to turn out, but I'm going to try anyway. I don't know the outcome of every possible choice, so I'm going to choose courageously. I'm going to choose courageously knowing that I am going to learn and grow either way. For I am learning to be less afraid. I am learning that I am free to live fully even while I wait for things to fall in place. Journal: Where will you take a risk today? How you can support this podcast: Leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App! Download my app "Storyteller" for daily messages, wallpapers, and FREE push notifications: http://onelink.to/stapp (http://onelink.to/stapp) My shop: http://garden24.co/ (http://garden24.co) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

Previous Episode

A certain kind of empathy

When you have an awareness of your own struggles, your awareness equips you with a certain kind of empathy - an empathy that is patient and kind, because you know what it's like to struggle. You're slower to judgment when you see someone else struggling, because you've been there. When you have an awareness of your own struggles, you have a way of holding space that matters more than you know. Even if your stories aren't exactly the same, if you have known pain, you know the value of being seen. You know this deeply and intimately. This is why you do the work you do. This is why you make the art you make. Something deep is driving you. This is why you seek justice when the scales have been drastically unbalanced, in favor of judgment, because you know what it feels like to be on the other side. On the other side of the gossip. On the other side of the rejection. You know what it's like to be the outcast, the different one, the misunderstood one. And one of the things that the struggle has taught you is that you don't want anyone in that position to feel that way. This is why you keep showing up every day. This is why you do the work you do. You are doing so much more than just traveling through. You care for those in vulnerable places, not only because you feel like you have to, but because deep in the well of your soul, you believe in the power and vitality of love. You know that even when you can't fix things to make it all perfect for someone, it still matters that they feel seen. You have known unknowns in your life, and you have worked through restless nights. You have also known what it means to wake up to morning light. And this deep knowing shines through the work you do. Every new day you are alive is proof that there is more to you. And while it takes so much courage to be here in this life, things are starting to become a little bit more full circle now. You're starting to see that because you've lived it, you know this: if someone is still in progress, it doesn't mean they are worth any less. And even while you are still healing from some of the wounds that have found you and the words that were said, there's a fire inside of you that wants to make sure others don't feel that way. Your concern and your empathy for others is rooted in love. Love that has not let you go even when you were in the lowest place. May you carry on today giving from the love lined place of your heart. Be present with empathy. Act on hope. Your heart for healing matters more than you know. Journal: When you hear the word empathy, who comes to mind? How you can support this podcast: Leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App! Download my app "Storyteller" for daily messages, wallpapers, and FREE push notifications: http://onelink.to/stapp (http://onelink.to/stapp) My shop: http://garden24.co/ (http://garden24.co) How you can connect on social media: Instagram http://instagram.com/morganharpernichols (Instagram.com/morganharpernichols) Twitter: http://twitter.com/morganhnichols (twitter.com/morganhnichols) Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/morganharpernichols (pinterest.com/morganharpernichols) YouTube: http://youtube.com/morganharpernichols (youtube.com/morganharpernichols) TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@morganharpernichols (tiktok.com/@morganharpernichols) Facebook: http://facebook.com/morganharpernichols (facebook.com/morganharpernichols) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message

Next Episode

Waking up

So much has happened this year, and now you're starting to see things in a new way. You're paying closer attention to the details. Your gratitude is growing. This year, you've been strong and you've been tender. You've shown up with courage, and you've taken time to rest. I hope more than anything that you can continue on this journey of seeing the world in a new way. I hope that as the days and weeks pass and the seasons begin to change all around you, a desire to learn and grow will run ever wild within you. Remain in the present. Let these become the days you look back on with gratitude for how you chose to come alive here. Let the photograph you're taking be the photographs that remind you: all along the little things were worth so much more than most would give them credit for. All along every day, light was pouring in, in a million subtle ways, and you chose to capture them. You chose to hold on to them. And years from now, this will matter more than you know. No one can take this from you. You may not know where you will be a year from now, but this moment, right here, exists all on its own. Every new breath you breathe is an invitation to come alive in it. So continue to make the most of where you are, as you are. Continue to trust that you are free to let light in, even when the future is uncertain. May you continue to experience a beautiful, meaningful life, all because you chose to see how it all begins - right here in the present moment. One day you will look back and be so glad that you chose to step forth in this season. You will be so grateful that even when you are met with resistance, it was worth it to keep pushing through. It was worth it to keep trusting and believing that there was more ahead of you. And not that this present season is perfect, and it is everything you thought it would be, but it is a place where you are learning and discovering there is just so much more to see. And even though you are being challenged, you are still growing. Your heart is opening and you are seeing new things coming together. You are awakening. You are awakening. Journal: What are you awakening to? How you can support this podcast: Leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App! Download my app "Storyteller" for daily messages, wallpapers, and FREE push notifications: http://onelink.to/stapp (http://onelink.to/stapp) My shop: http://garden24.co/ (http://garden24.co) How you can connect on social media: Instagram http://instagram.com/morganharpernichols (Instagram.com/morganharpernichols) Twitter: http://twitter.com/morganhnichols (twitter.com/morganhnichols) Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/morganharpernichols (pinterest.com/morganharpernichols) YouTube: http://youtube.com/morganharpernichols (youtube.com/morganharpernichols) TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@morganharpernichols (tiktok.com/@morganharpernichols) Facebook: http://facebook.com/morganharpernichols (facebook.com/morganharpernichols) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morganharpernichols/message