Recipe for A Leap of Faith

“Regrets can hold you back and can prevent the most wonderful things from taking place in your lives.”

–Eileen Caddy

A Leap of Faith is like making spaghetti sauce. You cut up and prepare a bunch of different vegetables and spices, add each ingredient to a huge pot, and let the flavors meld together until it finally turns into sauce.

In the beginning, you don’t have sauce, you’ve just got a pot of vegetables. And there is really no way to know exactly how long you have to let everything cook together before the sauce is done.  Sure, you know it’ll take an hour or so, depending on your Aunt Jenny’s recipe.  But you can’t exactly pinpoint the moment it will become sauce.  In fact, you don’t even know if the sauce will come out the way you wanted.

What if it turns out awful?  If you try to cook it too fast, you might burn it.  If you add green peppers instead of roasted red peppers, the sauce will taste completely different.  But, do you stop making spaghetti sauce just because you don’t know exactly how it’ll taste when its done?  NO WAY!  Do you really believe you can’t make spaghetti sauce?  Of course NOT!  Besides, you’ve got Aunt Jenny’s Recipe!

A Leap of Faith can be just as easy…

HERE’S MY RECIPE FOR A LEAP OF FAITH.

Ingredients

One Small Hope
A World of Chaos
A Human Mind with Fear
You

1000 lbs of Thoughts
A Pile of Doubts

Subconscious Dreams
1 or 2 Small Risks

A Specific Set of Goals

Gather and Inspect The First 4 Ingredients

Every Leap of Faith starts with One Small Hope. Hope born out of a world that many of us find filled with Chaos and Fear.  You can search your mind for the seed of this hope, the spark that brought it to life.  But truthfully, the seed doesn’t matter as much as the path before you.  Once Hope is born, it, like all small children, will refuse to be ignored.

Once you notice Hope, you’ll also notice Chaos and Fear.  Unfortunately, we tend to hyper focus on the World of Chaos around us, and the Fears Inside our Mind.  You’re human, so don’t take this as a sign of weakness.  Instead, recognize the phenomenal strength it took for your Hope to be born from Chaos and Fear.  And more importantly, realize that Hope has chosen this moment in time with You to start a journey that can change your life.

Separate & Weigh the Next 2 Ingredients

Now that Hope has arrived, you’ll probably find your mind heavy with 1000 lbs of Thoughts. What should you do?  Do you really want this Hope?  How do you start?  Does it make sense?  Does it sound exciting and fun?  Is it safe?  What could it feel like to grow with this Hope inside you?  The thoughts build up inside you, forming a Pile of Doubts or sadness.

Sometimes the pile is big. Sometimes the pile is small.  The problem really isn’t the pile, its what you decide to do with it.

Carefully Peel the Next 2 Ingredients

So, you’ve got this pile of….sh…uh… Doubts :).  You could ignore it, but then it will just get bigger and bigger until it topples over and makes a huge mess.  You could clear it away, but tomorrow, there will just be another Pile of Doubts in its place.  You have to stop it at the source, your mind  And you can stop it, right Now.

1. Accept that you have a Pile of Doubts. Its there, you can’t ignore it.  Your situation, your Hope, your Dreams, and your Pile of Doubts aren’t going anywhere until you Do Something.
2. Forgive yourself for creating all these Doubts. They came from your mind, so you’re responsible.  But they are the same doubts that any reasonable person might have.
3. Notice that Hope is still on your side. Its still there, whispering through your Subconscious Dreams.  You can do this.  It’s possible.
4. Recognize that you’re going to have to take a risk. Just 1 or 2 Small Risks.
5. Decide that taking 1 or 2 Small Risks are worth the huge reward: that your Hope will grow into your Success.  Write your decision down!  Make a promise to yourself that you will accept these first two risks and define a small reward for taking each risk. As an example, for each small risk your take, give yourself a night at the movies.  Or, buy that Angels & Demons, Special Illustrated Edition book you’ve been dying to read.  Remember, you get the reward whether the risk was successful or not.

“Being myself includes taking risks with myself, taking risks on new behavior, trying new ways of ‘being myself,’ so that I can see how it is I want to be”

— Hugh Prather

This last step was very important.  You must choose Hope over Risk. Risk is like a small bowl of water.  It isn’t necessarily dangerous, its just water.  Although you can drown in an inch of water, you only have to lift yourself up in order to save your life.

Did you write down your promise?  Are you still with me?  Good!

Separate and Cut the Last Ingredient into Small Pieces

Create a plan of action. Notice the word ACTION in that sentence.  A plan is a Specific Set of Goals that you will accomplish by a set due date using a defined set of resources. Simply choose the actions that you are willing to take and put them into a logical order.  Don’t get caught in Analysis Paralysis.  Define the actions you know you can take right now with the resources you have right now.

Put All the Ingredients into the Pot

Write down every step in the plan that you know, and set a due date for each one. Make sure to include when and how you will be confronting those first two risks.  You want that reward, don’t you!

If you’re head is filled with options, maybes, and possibilities, that’s okay.  Write those down too.  But don’t really worry about organizing them and don’t give them a due date yet. There’s a better way to deal with those later.  Remember, you don’t have to understand every step.  You just need a plan to get you started.   (If you want more details on how to create a realistic plan, check out the next post.)

Place the Pot On The Stove Over Medium Heat

Do it.  Follow your plan.  Take the first few steps you’ve laid out.  Face each risk knowing that your reward is right on the other side. Once the plan is created, take the first three steps without question. Trust your judgment and don’t worry about mistakes.

Stir & Taste Often

Observe your mistakes and re-plan. Mistakes are great opportunities.  They tell you what parts of your plan aren’t working.  Mistakes clear away the chaos and give you valuable information about the world, yourself, and the right way to nurture your Hope.

Here’s where those ‘options’ come into play.  If something isn’t working, pick a different option, and continue acting on your plan.  Don’t stop. If you are worried, go and reread the promise you wrote down.  Remember why you started this recipe in the first place.   Set due dates and write it all down.

Serve When Ready

Celebrate! You’ve made the Leap and you’re well on your way to Success.

This recipe can feed One Hope until it grows into complete Success.

In the end, all you really have to do is decide to take the Leap.

The choice is yours.   So get out your recipe and go for it.  Each batch comes out different, but it’s always tasty!

BREAK

What do you do to overcome Fear and believe in your Hopes? How did your last Leap of Faith turn out? Share your ideas in the comment section!

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