There are days when my nose should be broken or at the very least...my glasses. Those would be the days I walk into walls...not the way you think, although I do that too. I'm talking about the walls I've put up around me over the years and refuse to see even as I'm crashing right into them...over and over again. Logic says I should know exactly where they are...I put them there. But denial and self-protection are a very strong motivator for intentional repeat blindness.
I know you know the walls I describe...you have them too. I'm sure your walls are decorated differently but are probably just as devastatingly painful when you cork into them. For the most part I'm pretty honest about my life...I call things as I see them; when I'm wrong I say so, when I've goofed up, I examine the experience, take what I need and move on. But every now and then, I notice a repeat behavior or attitude that creates frustration, a little anxiety and much more resistance on my part than need be. Yeah...one of those walls I created, thinking it was a good idea at the time.
Creating certain walls can be good; the kind that create 'self-love' boundaries or remind us of our healthy limits...those are good walls. But then we go and create walls that keep things out like opportunity, progress and growth and there is only one thing that builds that kind of wall: FEAR. And if we let the walls get high enough we just keep walking into them believing there is little chance of knocking them down, getting around or through them. Good thing THAT's not true.
So on the days, I go banging my nose against my self-created imposing cubicle I take a moment to decide what will take the wall down. I've got plenty of tools in my fear-bashing arsenal so what will it be? I could take a stroll down memory lane and uncover a treasure from my memory of experiences and remember a different time I've overcome something I thought was insurmountable; courage always crumbles a wall. Or I could have a serious chat with my ego and ask it politely to step aside while I do what needs to be done; discomfort and all, a painful journey might hurt but it won't kill me. Or even still, I could just decide to feel the fear for what it is; the truth about my insecurities and do it anyway; my usual 'go to' sledge hammer for taking down walls. Whatever I decide to do...the walls boxing me in need taking down for forward movement.
It's worth taking a closer look at what created the fear in the first place and gaining new perspective, skills and momentum. Since we are the mason laying the bricks in the wall, and we end up only confined by the walls we build, it only makes sense to examine our building materials and why we selected such.
So many things create fear; self-doubt, uncertainty, self-judgment, need for control, etc. But anything that creates fear can be countered with remembering who we truly are; extremely capable beings that have made it thus far and with the grace of the creators we were meant to be, can do anything we decidedly decide to do. Know this one thing and we don't even have to break the walls down...they just become towers from which to stand atop and see our beautiful future...not nose breakers.