Some weeks ago when I was feeling down, nervous and resistant, I had lunch with my friend Natalia. After hearing me out, summing up all the shoulds that I was dealing with (it’s great to list your infinite to do’s to underline the drama), she told me this: “you have only two tasks every day: 1) trust yourself 2) trust the universe.”
Whether you believe in the universe as some kind of spiritual entity or quantum field that contains all possibilities – or none of that – most of us know that having trust or belief in ourselves, makes us behave differently.
When we see our ideas as possible, no matter how (un)realistic that internal voice thinks they are, we somehow can and will take committed action, a step at a time. This as opposed to not having much trust: we take a step, it doesn’t (immediately) work out, and we get confirmed in our belief that we shouldn’t even try or that we are incapable. Wit the result that we stop trying anything at all.
The question is really: what do we stand to lose when we give ourselves some trust? We might want to avoid failure, or think we are underserving. Take a moment to see what your reasoning is here. No matter what it is and where you’ve learned it, somewhere inside of you there is willingness to replace that reason for holding back, with trust. This probably feels somewhat uncomfortable, perhaps very. That’s ok. Now that you’re aware of what you’re saying to yourself, you have a choice to trade that in for a little trust that things will work out.
As you progress with your plans, you can make that same choice again and again. It cultivates a sense of contentment, knowing that your smaller actions are valuable in the grander scheme of things, that you are making it happen and that trust in yourself is your power.
Things generally do tend to work out, and when we have our own back, the universe seems to do too. Call it synchronicity, faith, or whatever; when we stop assuming the worst and trust that things might go well even though we don’t know how, possibilities arise, seemingly out of nowhere. Because we create them, and are open to seeing what’s possible around us.
Put up a reminder of some sort or ask someone to repeat to you that you can trust yourself, because sometimes all you need is that: a good friend telling you how it is.