Colette confided in me that her greatest gift was her ability to catch the moment – to take a decisive action, make a choice, or speak out in that moment. What stops us from catching that fleeting moment? Overwhelmingly, I find that doubt is the number one impediment.
From early on, we are taught that we should think things over by figuring and weighing our options. In many therapeutic modalities, we are encouraged to analyze the impasse, our relationships, or the projected outcome of our actions before acting. This reinforces the doubt. Slowly, this over-cogitating deadens our responsiveness to our gut feeling, inner voice, or intuition. Action leads to understanding, not vice versa! Not impulsive action, fueled by anxiety or fear, but decisive action in the moment.
Understanding or figuring things out rarely leads to action on its own. One of the first lessons I learned from Jerry is to act first and understanding follows. Sometimes we find ourselves feeling overwhelmed with the importance of the choice, or with the variety of choices presented to us. At other times, we feel victimized and powerless, frozen into taking no action at all. So how can we propel ourselves to choose an action and take it?
Mental imagery is one powerful tool to overcome doubt, choose between options, and act in the moment. By tapping into our inner source of wisdom, we know what to do in the instant.
Here is an exercise from are from one of my all-time favorite books Healing Into Immortality: A New Spiritual Medicine of Healing Stories and Imagery.
Name: The Double-Edged Sword
Intention: To overcome indecision
Frequency: Three times per day, for 21 days; up to 30 seconds each time.
Close your eyes and breathe out and in three times, i.e., long slow exhalations, each one followed by a normal inhalation. (After that you may breathe anyway you like).
See yourself holding a double-edged sword. Swing this sword from your chest to an obstacle in front of you. Then draw the sword back again and swing the sword through the obstacle, knowing that if you refuse to swing through it the sword hits the obstacle and rebounds back to you, the blade edge cutting you in half. Know that when you cut through the obstacle that you are becoming decisive. After finishing, breathe out and open your eyes.
