Entering the Abyss

As I sit here in my hotel room trying to figure this whole Substack thing out I can’t help but notice my tendency to delay the act of publishing my first article.

I became a member approximately three months ago and have yet to post! Why is that? In my opinion it’s due to human nature.

You see, most people like to have a sense of control. They like to have an idea of where they are headed and how exactly they are going to get there.

This makes us feel safe. This makes us comfortable.

The problem with this desire for safety and control is that we are not in control! There are innumerable other factors and circumstances that affect our lives each and every day whether we are consciously aware of them or not.

We can only act in the moment and then patiently wait to see what the future brings. The odd thing is that the future is never really the future. The future is just an idea in your own mind of events that may come to fruition. A sort of prediction of how things may pan out. The future is uncertain until it eventually becomes the present.

The present is the only moment where we can truly make a change in our lives and the world. Unfortunately, our natural tendency is to think about the future rather than act in the present. To think about how things may unfold. To think about how others will perceive us if we take action. This is the curse that affects a vast majority of us who have amazing stories and insight to share.

If you are thinking you are not acting. You can get stuck into a sort of analysis paralysis. Stuck in your own head thinking about how things may pan out if you do indeed take action. That is why my first post has been delayed by three months and why some of you reading may be in the same boat.

Prior to this post I was thinking about the perfect domain name. I was thinking about how to gain an audience. I was thinking about my target audience and my ideal reader.

The truth is simple yet scary to some: these things are out of my control. I can’t predict my ideal reader because I haven’t written anything. I haven’t taken any action.

I won’t truly know who my target audience is until I start writing. One keyboard stroke at a time. One moment at a time. Until the undetermined future becomes the certain present.

Now I have decided to get out of my own head. To take that first step. To get my fingers moving on the keyboard. It’s fun. It’s happening. It has marked my first step into the abyss.

I do not know what the future holds, but I do have the courage to act now in the present. To start a ripple effect through action. To get out of my own head and into the real world.

I encourage you to subscribe and join me on my journey into the abyss. Maybe my journey will help you along yours. In ways that we can’t predict. In ways we won’t know until the moment comes. That moment may never come if you don’t hit subscribe and take action now.