Category: courage

commitment, courage, determination, fear, meditation

Leap: Meditation Teaches Us About Fear and Perseverance

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“It’s okay to have emotions. Just make sure they don’t have you.” ~ Sarah Platt-Finger, ISHTA Yoga Senior Teacher

So, it happened. Over the past month since I gave notice at my corporate job and took the leap into working for myself, I have been amazed by how little fear has risen to the surface. Actually, it hasn’t risen up at all. Yesterday while in my meditation in my training class, it surprised me as it rose up and expressed itself with a sound akin to “Ah!”And then it passed away just as quickly, and as surprisingly, as it rose up.

The moment and its lessons were not lost on me. In that one second, I learned a lot about fear and perseverance:

1.) Fear is like an air bubble. It wants to be recognized and have a chance to express itself. The more we resist it and deny it, the larger that bubble becomes. If we can get ourselves into a neutral state (I recommend meditation to help with this), then the bubble can rise up to the surface and dissipate. Let fear come, but then let it go.

2.) Fear is like quicksand. If we begin to flail around in quicksand, it will swallow us whole. Remain still and we float to shore. The same is true for fear. When it comes upon us, we may feel the need “to do.” And by that I mean we may feel the need to do anything because we feel that doing anything is much better than doing nothing. It’s hard to be afraid and stay still, but that’s exactly what is needed if we want to find our way to the other side of fear, which is freedom.

3.) We have all the tools we need to banish fear. This is the most amazing insight that came from my panic moment. My meditation allowed the fear to surface and ask me, “Hey, are you sure you know what you’re doing?” In the stillness that the meditation induced in my mind and body, the answer clearly and quickly rose up – “Yes.” And in an instant the fear faded. It got the answer it needed.

This is the brilliance of meditation: it lets us face our fears but also gives us the tools to effectively and efficiently release them. We let go of fear (and every other thing that no longer serves us) because we ourselves let go. For a few moments every day, we stop doing and in those moments we feel the deep strength and wisdom that we always carry within us. Tap into that, and we find that we already have every answer to every challenge we will ever face. Go in and we find that it is this inner strength that allows us to rise.

courage, creativity, meditation, risk, yoga

Leap: How to Increase Our Odds of Finding the Upside of Risk

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

Risk has a scary connotation for many people. Maybe that’s due to pop culture references like the movie Risky Business or the board game Risk. Maybe it’s because we have stunning examples of the downside of risk like the latest economic recession which has harmed millions of people to a frightening degree.

The downside of risk paralyzed me for a long time. We have a natural, genetic predisposition to safety and we have been taught that risk is the opposite of safety.

How I changed my view of risk:
That unfortunate, and frankly untrue, equation kept me working for someone else for a long time. At 36, I just left behind a life of working solely for someone else to step out on my own as a freelancer with my new business Chasing Down the Muse, a consultancy business to assist creative professionals and companies on the leading edge of their industries. One reason that dream came to fruition had a lot to do with recognizing that for every downside, there is an upside. And though I wish there was a way to go out on a limb and guarantee safety, that just isn’t how it goes. Upside and downside are inversely proportional. The bigger the potential upside, the bigger the potential downside.

So are we stuck with those natural odds of risk? Absolutely not! There are a number of things we can do to pad our odds in favor of achieving the upside of any risk:

1.) Stash away your cash. I don’t offer investment advice but I feel infinitely confident saying that liquidity in your assets (having cash) is tantamount to giving you the best odds of achieving the upside of a risk. It gives you a cushion to land on if you come crashing down from your leap. How much do you need? That depends on your personality. I tend to hypochondria. I hope for the best and expect the worst. Many financial advisors now suggest having 6-9 months of living expenses stashed away as an emergency fund. I put away double that over 5 years because that’s what I needed to feel secure. You may feel comfortable with less, or you may need more.

2.) Meditate. Seriously? Yes! My yoga and meditation practice is a tool I use whenever I feel the jitters associated with a risk I’m contemplating. It relaxes my body, calms my mind, and helps me to call upon my creativity to drive home new ideas for boosting my odds of achieving the upside of a risk. I teach to share yoga and meditation to share these practices with anyone who wants to give them a whirl and incorporate them into their living. Curious about some meditation techniques you can use yourself? Contact Me.

3.) Stop talking, start writing. We can often talk ourselves round and round into a circle when it comes to our fears. That doesn’t mean we should stop sharing that information. I talk to my friends, my family, my dog, and to all of you about my fears. However, there should be a point where we give ourselves an end to it. I love this exercise from Pam Slim, author of Escape from Cubicle Nation: write down every fear about a risk you’re contemplating and then stack actions against every one of them to ease or erase that fear.

And when all else fails, remember this tidbit:

– Everything will be alright in the end. If it’s not alright, it’s not the end.

career, change, courage, entrepreneurship

Leap: Today I’m Trading My Corporate Job for a Freelance Life

Christa Avampato
Thanks to my friend, Trish, for sending me this photo this week!

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” ~ Anaïs Nin

Today is that day for me. After many months of thinking about taking the leap into full-time entrepreneurship, I’m ready to go. My desk is clear, my email inbox is empty, my to-do list is done, and I’ve said all of my good-byes (which are really more see-you-laters.) Now there is nothing left to do except leap. June 15th will be forever etched in my mind as the day when I chose to be free, the day I chose to take the leap and build my wings on the way down.

I had an incredible run during the toughest economy we’ve ever faced. For 4 years I had a front row seat to the economic crisis – its unraveling and its knitting back together, albeit more loosely and in a different form. I met some of the very best people I’ve ever encountered, and some of the worst. I learned from all of them and will be forever grateful to each for helping me to find this new path, my path. I leave my corporate job with a lot of heart for the company and the people, and even more gratitude.

As Milan Kundera so brilliantly wrote, I now understand what it means to experience the unbearable lightness of being. That is exactly how I feel – as if I don’t even need wings, as if the wind will just rise up and allow me to float to the other side. It’s so empowering to take my future into my own hands. I feel like I could just tear my dreams right out of the sky and plant them here on Earth. Like Adele, I could set fire to the rain. Freedom feels that good.

And to all of you, I owe an enormous thank you. Ever since I started this blog 5 years ago, ever since I set the New Year’s resolution 6 months ago to make this leap, you have been cheering me on and offering up your own stories – through comments, emails, tweets, texts, and conversations online and off. I wish there was a way to adequately say thank you. There isn’t. The best I can do is make the most out of this new road and take you all right along with me.

Take my hand. 1, 2, 3, jump…

change, clarity, courage, meditation, yoga

Leap: When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Keep Breathing

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest member http://pinterest.com/pntdhorses/

“Sometimes when things are falling apart, they may actually be falling into place.” ~ Marilyn Monroe

I went to meditation class on Monday night and settled in to my seat as I’ve done many times before. Nothing seemed unusual about the beginning of my practice but I was in for a roller coaster of surprises. This is a short story about riding the wave, never giving in, and committing to the long haul.

In a couple of weeks I’m meeting with an accountant to get myself set up as a corporation as I transition into doing more freelance work. I need to come up with a name for my company and I’ve been running up against a wall because of some underlying angst. Since making the leap last week, I’ve been wrestling with how to reconcile my professional interests in product development, writing, and teaching yoga under one corporate roof. I hoped that my meditation class would bring about some inspiration.

As soon as I settled down and closed my eyes, I knew something was wrong. In less than a minute my eyes were tearing up and tears were rolling down my face. My whole body began to feel very heavy and weak, my legs were falling asleep, and I started to feel dizzy. I stretched my legs out in front of me and pins and needles started firing from my feet to my knees. I took a long forward bend in hopes of re-grounding myself. It helped a bit, but not much. I contemplated leaving the class but decided to try to breathe through it. And I’m so glad I did.

With each breath, I felt myself releasing something that was old and stale, something that needed to be sent out to pasture and never heard from again. I’m not even quite sure what it was. Maybe old perceptions of myself or the world, maybe fear and anxiety, maybe a hard shell that had outlived its protective purpose. Underneath, I could feel the green sprouts shooting up, struggling to break new ground, reaching for some air and sunlight. A new day was dawning.

Change is hard. It hurts. It’s scary ad int’s uncomfortable. But if we are willing to hang in there and do the work to cross the chasm, something amazing is waiting for us on the other side and that something is us. We are making our way to exactly who we are meant to be and once we arrive home to our own authenticity, we will look back and realize that all of that work was worthwhile. The journey is long and arduous. It’s full of surprises, good and bad. Don’t turn back. Breathe, and keep going.

adventure, change, choices, courage, creativity

Leap: The Day After

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“What saves us is to take a step. Then another step.” ~ C. S. Lewis

A lot of people take about the day they made a change, a big decision, a new commitment.

But what about the day after? Do they wake up panicked by what they’ve done? Does their conviction grow each day after? Here is how I felt: just fine. Oddly fine.

Sometimes people fear staying too long in a situation that no longer suits them. I believe in my case I stayed just the right amount of time. I got my finances in order, my direction became clear and focused, and then leaping was the next logical step.

There were certainly moments of trepidation and fear. I’m sure there will continue to be these moments. They do pass. I just take another step, and keep going. Today is that second step, the second step on a new path. Of course it will feel rocky and of course I will feel unsure. It is new. It doesn’t know me. And I don’t know it. Yet. But we will grow together.

career, courage, creativity, dreams

Leap: My New Year’s Resolution Is Complete – I Took the Leap

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“I am not afraid. I was born to do this.” ~ Joan of Arc

On January 1st, I started down the path that would culminate in a leap from my current job. I thought it would be December by the time I actually made the leap but yesterday I gave my notice and my last day at my job will be June 15th. My co-workers are sad and disappointed as much as they are proud and excited to see me give my dream a real shot at coming true. I am so grateful for the lessons I’ve learned there and excited for the next chapter.

For the past 4 years I have been working full-time as a product developer for a financial services company and now I will turn utilize my experience toward teaching, writing, and creative product development projects, particularly (but not exclusively) focusing on technology in the healthcare and education spaces.

When I graduated from business school 5 years ago, I never imagined that I would contemplate working for myself. I made excuses: I’m too young; I don’t have enough experience; I’ll never make enough money to support myself. They are all valid fears, but there was one fear that was greater than all of these combined. What if I never devote my time to the projects that really light me up? How would I reflect on my life knowing that I didn’t do everything I could to merge my work with my passions?

And then the answer became simple – I have to at least try and that means letting go of what seems stable and secure for the sake of following the path that is most authentic. In actuality, the latter is the safest road. When we put ourselves in charge of our futures, we find renewed energy, strength, and creativity. We understand the true value of our time. We find our greatest worth.

So now as this chapter comes to a close, a bright, shiny, new one begins. Thank you so much for sharing this journey with me, for all of your support and encouragement, for believing that we can all be exactly the people we are meant to be, living the lives we are meant to live. We’re on our way. We’re building our wings.

adventure, courage, literature, yoga

Leap: Finding Our Edge is the Only Work We Have to Do

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest member http://pinterest.com/sdl/

“What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is your candle. Your boundaries are your quest.” ~ Rumi

Yoga asks us to find the balance between effort and ease, to seek our edge without going over it. This is the challenge on the mat and the challenge of our lives. We have to dream big to find that edge. We have to play, experiment, and envision a life without boundaries to open ourselves to our true potential.

We don’t know how far we can go until we set out on the greatest adventure we can imagine. Find those boundaries and then seek to transcend them – this is the only rule for extraordinary living. Everything else is up to us.

courage, time, yoga

Leap: The Benefits of Power on the Yoga Mat

Christa Avampato
Image from Pinterest

Up until now I have had a distinct disdain for power yoga. The very term power yoga made me shake my head in wonder. Why would anyone practice that?

Now I’m eating a bit of Bakasana (crow.) Mel, One of my mentors and teachers at ISHTA, has a class called Hour of Power. I intended to show my face once and never return. Now I actually look forward to it for a very simple reason – it’s improved my strength dramatically. I feel myself carrying my whole body differently. Lats week Mel had us do something she calls the martian butterfly sequence. Essentially we unfolded and packed up a Sun Salutation, adding one breath and one posture to each cycle. It took about 30 minutes and involved a lot of plank postures, lowering to chaturanga (bottom of a push-up) and then pressing back up. I think she calls it the martian sequence because by the end of it I was so wiped that I felt like I was on another planet.

Mel must have read the expression on my face when she cued our first pressing up. “Don’t tell yourself you can’t do something. Don’t think about it. Just do it.” So I did. Barely but I did it. Over and over and over again.

But here’s the miraculous thing that happened a few days later….

I was in a class and the teacher cued us to push back up from chaturanga and I just did it. I didn’t think about it. I didn’t tell myself I couldn’t do it. It just happened.

And the other miracle of this stronger practice is that I find myself softening off the mat, better able to manage challenges that arise with ease and grace. Maybe there really is something to this power yoga after all…

commitment, courage

Leap: Committment Changes Everything

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest member http://pinterest.com/charlizegrl/

Now that I’m on the other side of my decision to leap, I’m recognizing what my former boss and mentor, Bob G., coined as the “commitment effect.” He is a big Goethe fan and if there’s one lesson that he taught me in the time I worked for him it’s this: “the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.” In other words, commit and the way forward opens up. And once you’re committed to change, it becomes impossible to stay on the same track.

Commitment breeds magic. It can’t be intellectualized. It isn’t logical. It’s not even explainable. It just happens. We are the catalyst of our own process of change. Until we commit, we can’t expect the Universe to do a damn thing for us. We have to be the driver; the Universe has to know we mean business and that we’re serious about change before it will put its energy into us.

This isn’t easy. I know it takes a great deal of faith and guts to believe this and live it. The lead up is terrifying. When we back up and stare into that moment just before we take our running start toward the cliff, our heart is beating, our blood is pumping, and doubt still has the chance to creep in. We can still turn back, and many times we do. We step out of the starting blocks and take a long hard look at the insane journey we’re about to take.

Our anticipation of the leap is much scarier than the leap itself. Our minds have this wonderful ability to invent horrific scenarios. Turn the mind off and crank up the wisdom that’s planted deep inside. That’s where the truth lies.

You know what you need to do; take your mark, get set, and go.  Your commitment will carry you.

adventure, career, courage

Leap: Don’t Hesitate

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest member http://pinterest.com/peterclemens/

“To the timid and hesitating everything is impossible because it seems so.” ~ Sir Walter Scott, Writer

Why do we hesitate? Why do we look away at the very moment when our focus is most needed to find what we’ve been looking for? For me, that moment of hesitation arises from fear, fear that what I’m about to do is the wrong thing or fear that I’m not up to the challenge. I imagine everything going wrong 6 ways to Sunday, and my imagination is vivid. So I step back, hoping to get the courage to try again.

And here’s what I’ve learned in a very real way over these last few months as I’ve prepared to take a very large leap of faith to reconcile my career and the greatest dreams of my life: hesitation only delays the inevitable. Anaïs Nin said so beautifully, “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

That day is coming, for you, for me, for everyone who does something worthwhile with their days. Eventually, we won’t be able to stop ourselves from living the life we imagine. And it will never be less risky. We will never be less afraid. Jumping in and of itself is a scary proposition. Always.

Do yourself a favor. Do the world a favor. Make today the day when you blossom, or set a deadline and say something like, “On June 15th, I will start to live my life on my terms.” Circle it in red on your calendar and mark it with an “L” for Leap Day.

Scared? Me, too. And it’s okay. It should be scary because it’s worth doing. Let’s leap together and trust that we will find a net or grow wings.