Do It Before You’re Ready

Have you heard the saying “Leap and the net will appear”? That’s a scary thought! Leap? Like off a cliff? Without being able to see the bottom?

Well, I don’t leap off cliffs, but I do the next best thing. I leap in life.

Do you leap without a net?

“I’m not really ready. I don’t know how!”

If the truth be told, I’ll probably NEVER be ready. But that’s ok. About a year and a half ago I attended a weekend seminar called Vision. The facilitator has a saying: “Do It Before You’re Ready.”

WHAT?? But I don’t know HOW!!

Boy, isn’t THAT a familiar thought. Edwene Gaines wrote in The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity “the HOW is none of my business.” None of my business? But, but, but…well…ok. [deep breath] None of my business.

What if I’m not all wrapped up in the HOW? What would be different in my life? What if I could do things that I want to do before I’m ready without knowing how? Wait! Maybe I’ve already been doing this without realizing it.

Ok. Here goes…

I wasn’t ready to leave home at 18 and I certainly didn’t know how to survive boot camp and yet…well, here I am. I didn’t know how to travel to Japan …but I did it. I lived in Japan for two years while I served as a Cryptologic Technician in the Navy.

I didn’t know how to be married and wasn’t ready at all to have a baby, yet just a few years later I found myself living in Northern Virginia with a loving husband and a beautiful baby girl, Christine.

I didn’t know how to work a computer so I had a great time breaking…I mean WORKING my Macintosh. With a hard drive. Oooo. I know, right? And I wasn’t ready to be a manager, yet I kept having people put under my supervision. I had no idea how to be a graphics specialist, yet I learned everything I could from reading trade magazines and taking classes at the community college.

I didn’t know how to design databases, run a training company, write software training manuals, yet somehow I figured it out.

I wasn’t ready to quit my job and go back to college, but I knew it was now or never. It took four years (that is, four years more than the 11 I had already spent taking classes) to finally get my Bachelor of Music degree. Yes, a BM. Go ahead. I know you want to snicker.

I certainly didn’t know how to deal with a room full of little kids and realized the first day of school I wasn’t ready to manage their behavior, test their skills, or deal with not ever being able to get a freaking day off. But I figured it out. I found myself loving my students. I learned to test only the things I actually taught. And I found out the goofier I was with them, the more they loved me and would do whatever I asked. [Ramirez, are you taking notes?]

I wasn’t ready to move to Las Vegas DESPITE an incredible amount of planning. I wasn’t ready to drive cross-country with my younger daughter, Jenna…and two cats. I wasn’t ready to find my way around a new city. But with a little help from my sister and a lot of Toastmaster friends, I’ve adjusted pretty well, I must say.

I wasn’t ready to get divorced…either time. Yet it turned out to be the right thing for everyone involved.

And I wasn’t ready to start dating again nor do I necessarily know how. Yet it’s been ever so much fun getting to know myself better through being in relationships. And it’s a lot of fun to practice.

I certainly wasn’t ready to quit my job…AGAIN…this time WITHOUT a safety net. What was that saying again? Leap and the net will appear? It’s true! Here I am a year later doing EXACTLY what I want. I have created an incredibly successful music school that is pushing the bounds of my imagination. At the same time, I am a professional speaker with an incredibly busy travel schedule going to cities I love like Denver, Seattle, and yes…Billings, Montana. No, really, Billings. Did I tell you I’m originally from Montana?

What’s the next thing I’m not ready for? I’m talking with my friend, Brent, about getting high ropes certified. Yes, climbing 30 foot poles on purpose to lead other people to do “it” (whatever that is for them) before they’re ready. And I may even leap…without a net.

Do it before you’re ready because the net WILL appear. And you don’t have to know how. The HOW is none of your business.