What If?

What if I choose a passionate life instead of a good life?

We get to a time in our lives when we’re "successful," when we look respectable (and we truly are), when we’ve achieved most of our goals, and when we’re considered valuable citizens.

We enjoy it for a moment or a year or a decade. But at some point we ask (somewhat self consciously) for more. We assure ourselves that we’re not ungrateful for all the terrific gifts and for a comfortable life. But now comfort threatens to suffocate us. We’re no longer striving for safety and we know we fit.

There is no one to impress. We have a limited number of years left to experience the unique magic that we sense burns at our core. Even acknowledging that thought may create squirms. We thought we could relax and coast and be satisfied but now satisfaction is the opposite of what we need and it truly is a need. We need MORE. In big beautiful neon letters–MORE–and we need it NOW.

We know it’s not more of the same–more possessions or more accomplishments. We don’t want to repeat the first half of life. We’re stronger than we’ve ever been and we have greater wisdom and our hearts are open. We’re gentle and generous with our friends and family. But the undeniable magic within beckons and calls and tugs and we know we have a choice. Continuing as we have been going is fine. That life is appropriate and we’re appreciated.

But something deep inside us will die if we don’t say, YES, I’M AVAILABLE. Available for what? Well, we may not know but we know there is more and that our minds can’t take us where our hearts and souls want to go. We can’t do the rest of our lives “right” and be passionately alive. And passion is all that matters now. These next steps haven’t been trod by anyone before. There is no map and no goal. In fact, we realize that we are not acting from good sense.

But that’s great because we’ve always used good sense and we know the benefits and now we’re going for something greater than anything our minds can grasp or process. We’re ready to jump off the edge. Not jumping leads to a kind of death so jumping with trust in our magic is all we can do if we want to stay vibrant. It’s time to operate in a larger arena than we’ve ever lived in before.

We don’t know the natural laws but we know they’re not the familiar ones. We want to align ourselves with that pull we’ve intuitively sensed. We need to try. We wonder, What if I can? And we explore the What if? Because truly, What if I can be more than I’ve ever been and do more than I ever thought I could? What if I don’t know my limits? What if I surrender my life and my talents and my self and say, OK, magic, work through me? What if I allowed myself to be carried by that strong flow I’ve felt when I’m at my best? What if I say YES? What if? What if I choose a passionate life instead of a good life? What if I say 'I’ll go for it' all instead of 'Oh, well, what’s here is fine'? What if I find out there is more to me than I’ve ever dreamed?

Ruth Cherry, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and author in San Luis Obispo, CA.

By Ruth Cherry