Free fall
Everyone has the lessons from mentors and teachers that they wish they would have taken to heart “back then”, but really start to put into practice much later. Maybe you still think about the lessons you should be practicing? I am 35,000 feet in the air reflecting on a very important lesson I learned. Back in college I saved up money and made it a priority to go to these amazing Summer Arts camps. There I not only wracked up a bunch of upper division credits I needed to graduate I learned some of the most valuable information that I still use today on stage and in my personal life. One of the standout instructors for me was Alexandra Billings. She kept talking about getting closer to the edge and ending up in “free fall” I will be honest with you when I say I had NO idea what she meant. Even when she had said as a group we had leapt, we were in free fall. My control freak brain screamed “ummmm no thank you, I’d like to keep control of each and every part of myself. Thanks, but no thanks” I kept trying to take control and figure out what was happening instead of relinquishing control and trusting the process. I remember clearly her words “That just happened” and her pushing us to accept the present and move forward, no analyzing or going back to fix it. I would sit and listen to the lessons and really want to understand, to let go, to free fall, but the lessons would come in their own time. Usually when I was least worried about it, it would just happen. They say thats how it always happens, why is it so hard to believe?
I continued a similar lesson a year later when I studied with David Razowsky. He was director/teacher of improvisation. My biggest lesson from him was about committing to action. In improvisation you don’t have time to think, just do. Just be who you are in the scene and everything you need is already there. This again was huge for my over controlling brain, I like to THINK a ton, and ACT very little. I could probably write a whole book, or at least another blog about acting lessons that taught me more about life. (And now that I said that, it is going on my list!) These concepts of action and free fall have stuck with me in my everyday decisions, career changes, and big steps in life. I often find myself saying “Free fall, it’s not just for acting anymore” as I take action and metaphorically jump off a big cliff and figure it out as I go. Part of my free fall experience is committing, not THINKING and just DOING. Taking action is the big step that pushes me over the edge into extremely exciting, scary, and unknown territory. For me free fall is different each time, but with a comforting “yup, I know what this is” feeling. I know that I can trust my instinctual decision and know that this moment of free fall is part of the necessary process for success. I can relax for a moment and know that all my hard work will help to provide me with a landing, and I can hit the ground running. These are the moments I live for. Have you ever had an experience like this? This can be anything deciding to say “I love you” to a loved one. quitting your dead end job to chase your dreams, deciding to travel to a new country, having a baby, changing career paths, changing majors, going back to school, applying for grad school. There are so many moment in life in where we just have to TAKE ACTION and GO. This my friends is when free fall kicks in. The opportunity rarely arrives when we have all our ducks in a row. The opportunity usually presents itself at a crucial turning point, that now or never moment. Many of you can relate to this situation. I am literally 35,000 feet in the air flying home from Thanksgiving break, metaphorically free falling into my new step in life.
I have already jumped ALL IN and taken action to set up the life I want to live. I have resigned from the places where I was building a dream other than my own. Tomorrow I launch my full scale training business. Do I expect to succeed right away? Definately not, I don’t even know if I have prepared enough to have anyone in my class tomorrow, but I am doing it anyway. I am living my dream of changing lives and helping people reach their dreams. I am in the business of making dreams come true and every time I hear that phrase I tear up a little bit and get really emotionally invested in what I am doing. I want to thank the universe and every one in it that has helped me in this process. I have so many people who love and support me, I am very fortunate to have people around me pushing me to be the best version of myself. I encourage each and everyone I work with to push themselves, and I hope I am an example of that. I am in an unknown and scary moment of free fall, but I know I cannot fail. If failure is an option, than I have already failed. I know there will be set backs, I know there will be mistakes, but failure reigns only if I do not learn from those experiences and I do not move forward. Success often comes after the biggest mistakes. I have jumped and I am falling, I am about to make mistakes, and I am on my way to success. I am working hard to build my landing, build my solid ground, so I can hit the ground and take off again, forward motion towards the next cliff and the next free fall.
If you are reading this than you are already a part of my world. Already a part of my free fall and I encourage you to think about what makes your soul move and go towards it. Take action for your own life and start living, breathing, and working for your dream life. The foundation of my dream life is based in serving others, the vehicle I use is fitness. I want to change the way people see themselves and see the world and that starts from within each and every persons soul. Strength comes from within. “When I first transformed my body into a strong body, those feelings of strength started in my muscles, and then crept into my head and my heart into the way I saw the world and the way I saw myself.” Cameron Diaz I really LOVE this quote and it sorta bundles up what I want to help people discover.
Now I have a bit of a call to action. What are you doing to get towards your dreams? You can be doing BIG things to get yourself closer, or small manageable steps. The only rule is you have got to be running towards your dreams not away from them. Jump off that cliff, take ACTION, and let the free fall inspire you. What are you biggest obstacles? Why aren’t you where you would like to be? What can I do to help you realize your own strength and love who you are.
I launch tomorrow December 2nd. In the heart of the holiday season. Come join me for this journey and get fit in the process. Until I speak with you again. Go in the direction of your dreams. You can crawl, walk, run, or sprint there just take that action step and jump ALL IN.
