Are you ready to let go of the rung you are holding?
Have you heard of the “Parable of the Trapeze”?
It’s the story that tells us that in order to reach out and grab hold of the next rung of a trapeze, you must first let go of the rung you are holding onto.
It came onto my radar a few times these last 6-8 weeks.
The first time was when I caught an episode of the “We Can Do Hard Things” podcast.
In this conversation, Abby Waumbach (soccer legend, speaker, activist, author, and podcast co-host, with her wife Glennon Doyle, and Glennon’s sister Amanda) was telling her story about leaving behind her soccer career and moving on to ???? (an intentional series of question marks to indicate that she had absolutely no clue).
Here is what she shared:
“When I was transitioning from soccer to this life, a friend said, ‘Think of it like going and watching a trapeze person. They’re swinging from rung to rung.
And where you are right now is you’re just holding on to each rung,’ because I was really struggling to let go of my past and I was really scared to step into a future, an unknown...
She said, ‘But why do people go and watch trapeze artists do their thing?’
She said, ‘It’s to see what happens in the middle because that’s where the magic is.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, shit.’ So I let go of both rungs. And I was like, ‘Okay.’”
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There is a reason that Abby Waumbach was holding on.
Because letting go is scary as shit. And the period of transition is fear-inducing.
We let go of the rung and fall directly into the unknown, into uncertainty.
Uncertain (def.) “not able to be relied on; not known or definite” e.g. "an uncertain future"
Similar: undetermined | unsettled | unsure | pending | in the balance | in limbo | up in the air | in doubt | unpredictable | unforeseeable | incalculable | dicey | variable
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But, if these last two-and-a-half years have taught us anything, it’s that life is one big bowl of uncertainty.
If you can get to a point that you get this - really get it in your bones - then you are able to choose how you want to engage with this reality.
Do you want to hold fast to the belief that you are in control?
Or do you want to learn to dance with uncertainty?
To fully grasp that it’s necessary for there to be space for the next thing to come into your life, and then intentionally create that space?
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I speak from experience — as one who has fought the idea of unknown and wrestled with concept of uncertainty — and it’s not been pretty.
I’ve stayed in relationships too long, jobs too long, doing work I didn’t like too long. All because of fear. All because I didn’t trust that there could be something better on the other side.
But now, most likely because of COVID and everything it brought with it, I’ve (mostly) walked away from the fight.
There are times I feel like I’m dangling in mid-air, with no net, but there are also times when life feels lighter, more open, and dare I say, more spacious.
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As an antidote to fear, consider the alternative.
What will your life be like if you never let go of the rung?
If you keep hanging on, not realizing that by doing so you remain stuck in whatever part of your life you’re clinging to, what then?
Can you live with that?
Can you live with never experiencing the magic, never getting to the good stuff?
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There are no guarantees in life. That’s the truth. Now what will you do with it?
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If you’re thinking about letting go of the rung you’ve been holding onto and creating the space for a business (and life) that’s yours, consider jumpstarting the process with a VIP Day. Get the details here.
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