What’s so bad about feeling good?

Is it challenging for you to lean into happy?  Do you believe everything must be difficult?  Are you always waiting for the other shoe to drop?  If you said yes to any of those questions, congratulations . . . you’re human!  That said, it’s also important to know they’re merely self-limiting beliefs that can be adjusted with a “simple” shift in perspective.

Recently I’ve been working with a few clients who are on the threshold of breaking through to a “new normal” where joy and abundance await them.  They can taste it!  Yet each is paralyzed by the prospect of possibilities, so they hold on fiercely to what they know.  They feel more at home in the stuck place.  The dark place that validates their every fear.

I’ve told each of them the same thing.  I completely understand.  I know this place well.  I used to spend a lot of time there.  I now know it’s possible to live a life that is even more meaningful and fulfilling than I ever could have imagined.

I still remember when I took the leap of faith . . . literally.  It was nearly six years ago, and I was in coaches’ training.  For one coaching demonstration, the instructor asked me if I would be the coaching subject.  I agreed and found myself in front of nearly 30 of my peers.  The exact coaching technique is not as important as the end result, however I want to set the scene for you.

There’s a coaching process called “down the tube” and “up the tube.”  In essence from my perspective, the first is taking someone into their dark places and shining a flashlight to explore.  There may be strong emotions there that will try to derail them.  The latter is doing the same however taking them to the place of light to explore the possibilities.  An assumption can be made that down would be “bad” and up would be “fun.”

Which brings me back to my leap . . . near the end of the process of being taken “up the tube,” I found myself standing on a chair in front of the entire class.  There I stood for what seemed like an eternity.  I was weeping and shaking and paralyzed with fear.  What was terrifying me?  Good question!  My instructor was simply asking me to jump fearlessly into my bright future and embrace my gift and passion for coaching.  Sounds easy . . . yet I was absolutely immobilized.

I had overcome obstacles in my life that made me quite comfortable in the place of  darkness.  I had never, however, learned that I could walk into the light and realize any dream I dared to dream.

When I FINALLY took the leap off that chair . . . I felt like I was jumping the chasm of the Grand Canyon.  What gave me the courage to do it?  My peers had gotten out of their chairs and stood around me in a circle.  They encouraged me.  They believed in me.  They dared me to live my life to its fullest potential.  And so I jumped . . .

As I landed, they spontaneously began singing “Happy Birthday” to me.  In that moment, I knew my life had changed for ever.  They simultaneously honored me for releasing myself from my past and jumping into an inspiring future.  We cried and cheered together as they congratulated me on my courage.

Then, one of my peers said something that I still remember today.  He said, “If I had walked in here near the end of the demonstration, I would have thought you were ‘down the tube’ not ‘up the tube.”

And there you have it . . . to some of us “up the tube” can be just as scary and dark as “down the tube.”  I invite you to take a leap and see for yourself!  Trust me!!  Once you do you’ll discover there’s absolutely nothing bad about feeling good.

Are you ready to thrive?

Kathie Nitz

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