As a little girl, I loved the merry-go-round at the park near my grandparent's home.
I'm not talking about a carousel (with horses and elephants, run by the power company.) I'm talking about the heavy-duty-steel-flying-saucer-with-handles-to-grab-to-keep-you-from-flying-off contraption, powered by the speeding feet of children!
I can remember when I finally was old enough to walk down to the park with my cousins! WOW! I felt absolutely GROWN! Then, when the days came I didn't have to go with the "big kids" I had finally arrived.
Let me just say, that merry-go-round was probably a death trap waiting to happen. But we weren't afraid. We were brave.
The trick was to get strong enough to do all kinds of tricks on the merry-go-round. First, to simply push the thing fast enough for everyone to be happy and then jump on.
Next, to hook your feet around the bottom handles and lay down on the floor of the mighty thing.
Then...to hook your feet around the handles and lean back over the flying ground! You were awesome and powerful when you achieved that feat. By that time, we were almost too old to play on the thing. All told, there were probably a grand total of 6-8 years when the merry-go-round was THE thing to do when we visited my grandparents.
Remember, I mentioned it was probably a death trap? Well, I can't say that any of us every really got hurt, but the potential was there. The more comfortable we became, the more likely it was that we'd get hurt.
I had a lot of skinned knees and shins by being dragged alongside the thing when I couldn't jump on fast enough. And, I had some bruises from jumping off while it was still spinning. Funny thing is, all of those wounds were self-inflicted. A lot like the topic today - Sabotage.
My Shoes Made Me Do It
The word sabotage comes from the French word sabot, or shoe. Sabotage literally means to "willfully kick with the shoes in order to destroy."
That very much sounds like self-sabotage to me. And when metaphorically compared it to the days on the merry-go-round, we cause a lot of skinned knees by holding on to the very things that are trying to drag us down and under.
Self-sabotage occurs when we keep returning to thoughts and actions that we know are harmful, and sometimes even deadly. They are the practices we put in our own way. Procrastination, busyness, and self-medication are just a few of the ways we "kick ourselves with our own shoes."
Stephen Pressfield calls it Resistance in his book, The War of Art.
You recognize it, I'm sure. Any time you know you need to do something and you choose to do something else?
Break Free
You can break free from self-sabotage if you're willing to have a few bruises. #BeliefRevolution
By it's very nature, self-sabotage is designed to stop you. In order to break free, imagine one of those giant slingshot things. It's going to take some courage, and tenacity to throw yourself off of the merry-go-round and NOT go back!
Hover to Play
The most important question you can ask yourself is, "Is it worth it to stay on the merry-go-round or is it time to be free?" How many more years willing you spend doing the things that stop the progress of your life? The more comfortable you are with your form of sabotage, the more danger you are in; the more careless you become. Are YOU hanging over the edge of your own sabotage-go-round, playing a dangerous game with your life?
Are YOU hanging over the edge of your own sabotage-go-round, playing a dangerous game with your life? #BeliefRevolution
It takes courage and bravery to jump off of the merry-go-round of self-sabotage. You will get bruised. You might scrape your arms and knees when you fall flat on the ground. You might...you WILL...have to try more than once. It takes determination. It takes spunk. It takes a decision..
After all, it is your choice. They're your shoes.
Live At Your Best! Live Inspired!
