You’ve always had the power, my dear. You’ve had it all along, you just had to find out for yourself.
Recently, my thoughts keep coming back to what I call the Ruby Slippers realization – that scene in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy learns that, while she always had the power to go back to Kansas on her own, she wouldn’t have believed Glinda if she told her, and instead had to learn it for herself.
How many times have you wanted to do something different, try something new, learn to do something totally out of your comfort zone, but either took forever to take the first steps, or still haven’t done it to this day, because it feels impossible, or you know how to do it and your intimidated by that discomfort, or you just feel lost? Be honest with yourself. I’d like to think I’m a pretty assertive person, but it has happened to me many times before. Thoughts of doubt creep up, or that fight or flight response kicks in because your body senses your apprehension, and neurologically, you can’t differentiate that feeling from being faced with a lion, and you just…don’t.
BUT! If you look at the things you’ve already accomplished, overcome, or are currently going through, I promise you, you’ll uncover moments where you thought it was impossible and you couldn’t get through, but once you took a courageous step forward (and sometimes with a good support system – no need for a lion, tin man, and scarecrow,) you realized that you had it in you all along to achieve what was necessary. It just took something like life experiences, a person, an event, or a yellow brick road to show you what you’re really made of. Sometimes, you just need to go on a journey to discover that you already had it all along. It’s not always easy, and may take all that you have, but more often than not, your strength, grit, determination, and inner magic will see you through.
I hope that you have a Ruby Slipper realization this week, no matter how big or how small it may seem.