You know that thing you really want to do. It’s a big deal. Just thinking about it now gets your heart rate up, if you could conquer it you’d feel so empowered. Then something happens Inside, a small shift that leaves you feeling deflated. All the air has been let out of that balloon and now the thought of this really cool thing now makes you use the same old coping patterns. Maybe you didn’t really want it anyway, or maybe you go back and forth inside your own mind trying to find a way to make it happen in the throws of anxiety ignoring those signaling feelings. 

You’ve hit a barrier. Barriers can be physical, psychological or social, and none are easy. Obviously if you were standing in front of a cliff face and you had to get up it you’d start looking around for tools to help. So much more often though our barriers are invisible. We can’t see what’s stopping us, and in our deflated states we just surmise that there really isn’t a higher place to go. That giving up on that dream is the only option. Oh how sad for us! If only we knew how to asses the cliff face; if only we had tools! We do! 

Take a second now and go back to that thing of yours. Is your cliff face negative self talk, historical pressures, physical challenges? Or are you facing much bigger issues of poverty, inequality or injustice that are leaving you feeling helpless? How can you build resilience, the strengthening of your muscles for the climb, against these things? Has your life already been doing that for you? Who has your back? Who can you count on to lift you higher? Have they been here before giving you a pull or are they searching for a way up too, giving you a supportive push to look for the next handhold? What about your mindset? Are you staring at the ground? Reflecting on last failures? Or do you find yourself in this moment seeking higher ground?