Hi all! With the launch of our new web course on relationships, I felt inspired to post an article I wrote recently for Blue Skies Magazine, that speaks to life choice, trusting your gut, and making room for love.
I wish you all true happiness, however it looks for you.
xo
“Clear The Lint”
By Melanie Curtis
I’ve been an attendee or organizer at one of skydiving’s major women’s events for as long as I can remember (well, since 2002), so it was a big deal for me this year to decide not to go. I jumped and worked at the hosting drop zone for many years and am deeply grateful for all the memories, experiences, and love I have from my time there.
So why not keep rolling with such a great thing?
Great question.
I’m not gonna lie, it was a super tough decision for me not to attend this event this year. Lots of different thoughts tumbled around in my mind like a drying machine full of reasons why I should still do it. First, the happy/yay reasons like: it’s super fun, I’ll get to see my old friends, I’ll get to meet a ton of new peeps, and of course I’ll get to enjoy all the sweet jumping, good times after hours, costume party, etc. Then there were the darker reasons like being terrified to give up what I’d worked so hard on for so many years… or more so, what would happen if I separated myself from that success? All those fear-based thoughts and questions. No bueno, but still there. Lastly, I had the more practical reasons like: I’ll make money, continue to expand my network, things like that. The least racy of all the reasons, but all of them still shed lint and clogged up my works.
So dang, with all those reasons to still go, why didn’t I? With so many fuzz balls cluttering my decision-making, how did I clear my mind and make my choice?
The answer: I checked my gut.
The gut check is like swiping all the junk off the lint collector in the dryer… the tumbling stops, there is no sound, and our machine is clean. In one fell swoop, things are entirely clear. When I really stopped and gave myself a quiet moment with this choice, every time it was clear. Every time it told me to have the courage to pass the torch. It was time to move forward in my life even though I didn’t know what that was going to look like, or yield. I just knew I had to do it.
What about you and the decisions you’re making now?
How clogged are you with fears and logic keeping you from your clear gut? What does your gut tell you when you stop and ask? Move forward? Stay put? What? What can you see in your life that needs a gut check?
So anyway, there’s actually more to this story… fast forward to the event weekend, my guy and I decided to go to the Grand Canyon instead. I had never been, we both love travel, and I loved seeing my choice to move forward come to life as something new, majestic, and exactly in line with where I truly want my life to go. Yes.. in driving north, in having that sandwich on historic Route 66, in looking out at that literally jaw-dropping view, I was living my reward for trusting my gut and following my heart. That alone inspired profound joy in my body and being. … Then the impossible happened. On the side of that cliff, against the conscious rewrite of my life, the person I love most in this world got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
Because I trusted my gut, my life had the space for that to happen.
Because I trusted my gut, I closed one door but opened another much more important to me and my future. Because I trusted my gut, another one of my dreams has come true.
My belief… every one of us can have what we want. Every one of us can have joy. Adventure. Family. Fun. Connection. Companionship. Freedom. Love. … Whatever we care about, we can have. A major bit to getting there is simply trusting what our deepest selves tell us at decision time.
If we follow our gut, sure, we open ourselves up to an untested, uncertain future, but if we go against our gut, we are certain to go down the wrong path.
Yeah. You have the courage. Clear the lint, live your gut, live your dreams. Will you marry me? Yes. Tizzle 2.0, out.
So anyway, there’s actually more to this story… fast forward to the event weekend, my guy and I decided to go to the Grand Canyon instead. I had never been, we both love travel, and I loved seeing my choice to move forward come to life as something new, majestic, and exactly in line with where I truly want my life to go. Yes.. in driving north, in having that sandwich on historic Route 66, in looking out at that literally jaw-dropping view, I was living my reward for trusting my gut and following my heart. That alone inspired profound joy in my body and being. … Then the impossible happened. On the side of that cliff, against the conscious rewrite of my life, the person I love most in this world got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
So anyway, there’s actually more to this story… fast forward to the event weekend, my guy and I decided to go to the Grand Canyon instead. I had never been, we both love travel, and I loved seeing my choice to move forward come to life as something new, majestic, and exactly in line with where I truly want my life to go. Yes.. in driving north, in having that sandwich on historic Route 66, in looking out at that literally jaw-dropping view, I was living my reward for trusting my gut and following my heart. That alone inspired profound joy in my body and being. … Then the impossible happened. On the side of that cliff, against the conscious rewrite of my life, the person I love most in this world got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.Because I trusted my gut, my life had the space for that to happen.
Because I trusted my gut, my life had the space for that to happen.
