How many times have we heard the common refrain- have a Plan B. Not content with just one back up plan, some of us go much further and test out all the alphabets in the English language. Running hard to stand at the same place. Phew!!
It is like being in a state of hyper vigilante at all times. Fight or flight. Keep the door ajar to escape just in case. Happy to be in no man’s land. Half committed, not deeply engaged, the perennial ‘what if‘ mode. Typical of people who keep withdrawing from their ATM called Bank of Worry.
Having multiple back up plans does not guarantee you insulation from life’s uncertainties. It is a deeply flawed strategy and brings in preemptive agony and suffering. Bracing all the time for life’s storms which at most times don’t arrive.
The domicile of being between a rock and hard place is a slippery slope. Over indexing on the ‘what if’ does not fetch anything of significance. You are investing in a one dimensional mind that only thinks and calibrates to the perceived danger at hand and thereby missing out on the creativity and agility that we are all so capable of. It will be a shame if that inventory goes unused.
The no man’s land is the half hearted approach to your art or craft, or to a conversation or a relationship for fear of total commitment and a harder fall, then there is nothing much going for you. You can’t learn to surf by being tentatively placing your foot at the edge of the surf board.
Having a plan is good but it should not be a bank of worry. Analysis paralysis and over preparation is far less useful than amping up your adaptability and agility. Don’t under estimate your tenacity and resilience. Replay those moments in your mind’s home theatre of how you came through in spite of being against the wall with challenges.
Fear is only a reaction, creativity is a response. You’ll often find that what you feared is far less harmful than the bunker you built against it.
ENDS