THIS MONTH'S SUCCESS LINKS AUDIO OFFERING: TWO PRAYERS FOR THE DARING: This audio contains a prayer for before you take a step that feels risky or scary, and then one you might use once you're in the middle of your adventure. Total time: 8 minutes, 15 seconds. Listen to the.mp3 file now. COMFORTABLE WITH UNCERTAINTY Pema Chodron, a Buddhist nun, is one of my beloved teachers of meditation and mindfulness of my fears in uncertain times. Her book Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion, is available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk Click here to visit Pema's own website.

REVELING IN UNCERTAINTY
by success and spirit coach Michele Lisenbury Christensen

"No man ever achieved worth-while success who did not,
at one time or other, find himself
with at least one foot hanging well over the brink of failure."
     - Napoleon Hill

Our worthwhile successes tend to require a certain degree of flirtation with failure. And in my experience, the things I'm truly meant to do almost always scare, overwhelm, or at least excite me before I take them on.

Uncertainty is our only certainty in business. The capacity to take risk – to do what no one else has done or been willing to do – is what allows us to stay in business and build something of meaning. The question is not whether we'll be unsure; the question is how we'll respond to our uncertainty.

Uncertainty can be a reminder that we're walking in intimacy with the Divine. I often say to myself and my Source, "I'm only going here on faith," and at those times, my uncertainty is not a negative side effect of risk, but a sign that I'm on the right track. We can respond to uncertainty in one of three ways: pulling away, muscling through, or reveling in uncertainty.

If we pull away from the project when we feel uncertain, we stop in our tracks. We drop the CD or the book idea. We don't call the new client. We scrap the acquisition plan. Our possibilities shrink. We let our fear freeze us in our tracks…and we may not even know that's what's happening. One sign of pulling back in the face of uncertainty is procrastination. We might say, "I'm just really busy right now. I'll get around to it." Another subtle clue that uncertainty is stopping you is if you move from project to project, not completing any. The fear of failure may be stopping you from taking the risk of seeing your goal through. Finally, "I need to know more before I move forward" is an oft-heard refrain of the uncertain and fearful. You CAN move forward in the face of fear and uncertainty. Read on, and I'll show you how.

One approach many of my clients have taken in the past is to "muscle" their way through the risks they must take, the uncertainty they face, and the fears that come up. When we take this steely kind of approach, we grow strong, yet hard, by facing our fears and risks with such determination. But there's a tremendous cost to that steely determination. What I've seen so often among my clients, who are successful business owners, is that the risks they take, even when they're successful, really take a toll on their energy and their hearts. It's terrifying to watch and wait while a campaign is launched, still uncertain if their hard work will pay off. It's harrowing to wait for a decision from an investor or a big order from a huge client when you're trying to just gut it out. These are often the most painful moments in business: not failure itself, but having given our all, then having to WAIT in uncertainty.

But we can learn to reduce the pain of uncertainty. I believe that business can be a spiritual calling, and that business is one of our most promising frontiers for spiritual growth now. You know how in the epic tales – the Old Testament, the Bhagavad Gita, the Iliad, the Odyssey – the hero's journey is often set on the battlefield? I think in the times when these books were written, hand-to-hand combat in war was the common, terrifying experience that brought men (and it was mostly men!) face to face with their fears and their potential. Now, though, the common experience we face is business. The epic tale we could write today features men and women facing their fears and their strength daily through their work. Every day in business, we have the opportunity to stretch beyond what we thought was possible, to confront our fears about ourselves and the world, and to rely on spiritual strength as well as our own personal ability to "gut it out."

The potential to lean into our spiritual side in our working lives, is the true purpose of business. It's just a sandbox for spiritual growth. Yeah, you're paying the bills, and it's keepin' you off the street all day, but what if the main reason you were in business was to learn what you're made of, and to learn what the Divine can do through you?

As we begin to play the game of business as if its objective is for the Universe to show us our true substance through the risks of commerce, we release both shrinking from uncertainty and "gutting it out." When you know that God (or whatever you call your Higher Power), you can dive into uncertainty, because you know you're guided and supported in your endeavors. You're safe as long as you listen to your divine marching orders. And you learn that the heart-pounding, sweaty-palms feelings that accompany your risks are sure signs that you're working closely with your Creator.

My guided excursions into fear, uncertainty, and risk now feel like ecstatic adventures where God is showing me my true nature – one of energy, expansiveness, joy, and creativity. I revel in uncertainty, much as it also scares me! May you have experiences this week of reveling in uncertainty, too.

PRACTICES FOR REVELING IN UNCERTAINTY

The following practices have helped me and my clients use uncertainty as a tool for growth and success. E-mail me and let me know your experiences with them.

Until next time,
may the light within you illuminate the world around you.

          Blessings,

Michele Lisenbury Christensen
Success and Spirit Coach

© 2005 Michele Lisenbury Christensen. All rights reserved. Feel free to or re-publish, with the following copyright and contact information attached:
"By Michele Lisenbury Christensen, MA, PCC, Success and Spirit Coach. Please visit http://www.successandspirit.com for additional articles, interviews, and resources for creating sustainable success and spiritual connection." (Please make sure the link is live if placed in an e-mail or web page)

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