Those sliding door moments…

Sometimes we face into a choice or decision where we entirely own the path that’s got us there - and yet still we can find ourselves unsure of whether to take the big step that makes the change happen.

There’s a tipping point from preparation into activation.

And these decisions can feel so enormous to us as individuals - they can feel gigantic inside us - even if in the outside world they can seem relatively insignificant.

I often think of these as sliding door moments. We know we can step through or we can shut the door and step back. And that’s always a choice - and it’s important to remember that.

These moments can be practical. They can be emotional. They can be energetic - do we choose to show up in the world in a way that feels more authentically us now, or do we step back and continue as we were before?

It’s really important that we approach this exploration without judgment - with compassion - and with spaciousness. So we’re not so tangled up in its depths that we can’t see what options we have, but we can hold space for the complexity.

And also - this stuff is never silly.

We don’t have to caveat the things that are taking our attention with “I know it’s silly” or “I know it’s ridiculous.” The whole of us is always worthy of our loving attention. Even the things we might have come to believe are not.

If something’s taking our energy, taking our attention, my sense is that there will be something in it that is asking to be seen or asking to be heard.

One of my reflections here is that we all evolve.

Sometimes finding ourselves in these places is simply an expression of that evolution.

And sometimes we don’t need to do the big digging into why we’re where we’re at. We can simply say - oh, okay. I’m in this place in my life right now, and so this change feels more available, more appropriate, more intuitive, more in flow with where I am right now.

Something has led me here.

Trusting ourselves - trusting all those micro and macro decisions that have got us to this point - can be an enormous aspect of trusting that we know our next step too.

Always remembering that we can adapt or change course.

The brain loves the status quo. It’s less effortful. We love to conserve our energy - it’s a survival strategy. And that isn’t necessarily what always serves us in the modern day.

Stress and threat affect our decision-making ability. If lots of decision-making points collide, it can become overwhelming - creating decision overload. So being compassionate about that, and prioritising which one really needs my attention, becomes our best strategy.

Lastly, remember it’s hard to make decisions when we’re tired. It’s like we have a finite resource for decision-making capability; it reduces as we go through the day and refreshes with good rest and good nutrition.

So one step can be to plan to make decisions when you know you are resourced.

Three questions to journal on could be:

I’d love to close with a journaling practice that can help us understand the relative impact of the decision we’re looking to make.

Write - stream of consciousness - for a few minutes on each of these…

• In the grand scheme of things, what’s the impact of this not working?

• In the grand scheme of things, this not being exactly as I envision could mean…

• In the grand scheme of things, when this goes beautifully, just as I wish it to…

These prompts help highlight the importance of recognising our fears, and hearing what they have to say, without dismissing them.

And they show us the importance of remembering things may not look exactly as we envision.

AND, they help us feel into the joy of hope and possibility.

“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”

Nelson Mandela

→ How to create and navigate change can be a beautiful area to explore in one-to-one work