Don’t Stop Believing

Today’s post is a guest contribution from Scout Wilkins.

But first, a quick update from Sensophy Studios in NYC! This just in – “whazzzzzzuhp yo!!!???”

I’m excited to introduce you to a Sensophizer who’s been a huge supporter of Sensophy (and myself) for almost a year now: Scout Wilkins. I trust you’re gonna dig this guest post from Scout as she’s a wise woman who’s out there living her own (s)hero’s journey, making “daring” decisions directly based on her deepest values, and fascinatingly exemplifying a life lived fully. Connecting with passionate people like Scout – people who are committed to taking life to the next level – is one of the most rewarding parts of growing this Sensophy garden.

Before we jump into her heartfelt advice here, make sure you check back on the blog this Wedneday for a video i just shot today. All I’m gonna say is I talk about my roommate and $300,000 – oh the suspense! And next Monday (Halloween), I’m gonna release an article tentatively called “27 Actionable & Awesome Ways to Create An Extraordinary Life, Today!” And now, without further ado, I give you Scout!

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I want to start by acknowledging an assumption I’m making – that Jacob’s crowd here is probably different than my normal peeps.

I’m speaking from the other end of life – thirty years on, and I am here to say I love the young energy on this page. I love the fact that so many young folks are getting turned on to not only that they CAN live their purpose but real life instructions about HOW to do it.  I love that.

And, I wanted to reach out and offer a viewpoint from another generation. One, so you really get what a great thing it is you are doing for yourself and the world by making this choice, and two – in case there are other oldsters out there who might be served by investigating the slightly different slant from which we come at this question.

A bunch of us grew up in a model that came right out of Beaver Cleaver…do you even know who that is? The 50’s suburban idyllic father knows best nuclear family. A model that did not include (except in rarified examples that I read about now but never actually witnessed) celebrating the act of following your heart. Or the consideration of such a thing as living on purpose. Say what?

No, the model was – do what you are supposed to do. Get a job, hold it your whole life, be happy with the status quo. Fit in. You know the model.

Largely, my generation let that model run our lives in one of two ways. We either caved in, or we rejected it…too much of the time, we weren’t reaching for what we loved because we loved it so much…we were running away from what we knew we didn’t love. We either did fit in, or we emphatically did NOT.  Either way – the model was running the show.

Little by little, each in our own good time, we began to ask – hmmmm. I wonder. Can I just reach for what I want? What if I look deep inside and find what I really love, what really brings me joy, (which I equate with “what is my purpose”) and move in that direction? Can I really do that?

Maybe we even have an epiphany moment, that feels something like:

• Oh. My. God.
• I really CAN have what I want.
• What I want really does matter.
• I can follow my heart.
• Who knew.
• And who knew that I so thoroughly didn’t believe that was possible, until this moment.

It’s a huge moment, and I’d love to say that it’s a happily ever after from there, and we all went off pursuing our dreams with joy and abandon.

My experience is that it’s a bumpier ride than that. That it’s quite possible and, in my experience even likely, that you’re going to get excited, start off down the path toward your dream: You quit your job, get the training you’ve yearned for, write the book, take whatever your big step is, and all’s well.

What actually happens, for most of us, is that at some point, to make it all work in the real world, you’ve got to step off what feels like a great big cliff, into the abyss.

You’ve got to put yourself further out there in the world and really claim what you are doing. And value yourself and what you are doing enough to ask people to pay for it.

Jacob’s a great example right now – he got all excited, dug deep, learned lots…and at some point had to say – OK, what’s the next step? How am I going to share this? If this is what really matters to me, how am I going to take it out in to the world?

Jacob, correct me if I’m wrong here, but I am guessing that you had to move through some big fear, self doubt, questioning, to launch your product, and to keep launching it and keep putting it out there, and just keep –

Believing.

[No correction needed Scout! BTW, if i may interject here, I’m loving re-reading this article right now as i get it ready to be posted. It’s so ‘on point’ and you rock! -Love, Jacob. Moving on…] 

You did such a great job of taking that step over the edge, in trust. [Thank you!]

Because it’s one thing to head down the road toward what you love. It’s a whole nother thing to stand up, look back, and wave others on. Look what I’ve learned! Let me teach you. I have something important to share. THIS is what I believe in. 

Whoohoo, unleash the gremlins.

I really don’t know so well what the twenty or thirty something gremlins are saying…I am very conversant with the gremlins of we 50 or 60 somethings. Our gremlins sound like:

• Who in the hell do you think you ARE?
• Don’t you dare say anything until you’ve got it ALL together.
• What, you want it to be easy and FUN? ExCUSE me?! What matters is hard work – how will you prove your value if it’s not hard?
• This has SO already been said, what could YOU have to add?
• What if they don’t buy? What if they don’t want you?
• What if “they” were right and you really don’t matter after all?

Heart wrenching doubt.

That’s when DON’T STOP BELIEVING kicks in – or doesn’t.

Please don’t give up.

Don’t let the gremlins stop you.

Know that you are not alone. Please don’t quit.

Bring it on. We need you, we need your voice.

Please don’t stop believing in yourself.

Those gremlins are illusions.

We’re all in this together, sharing the ride.

Reach inside and find your purpose.

Stand in it.

Find people who help you believe, when it’s hard for you to do it by yourself.

Oh yeah, that’s the other thing my generation grew up with – the John Wayne strong silent type.

Excuse me, but no. This is where interdependence is the name of the game. You have a way that you are hoping to help other people. So – open up the energetic circle. Let other people help you. The only way this energy can flow. When we all reach up for help and reach down to give a hand, we’ve got a strong, strong structure.

Please don’t stop believing.

Do what it takes to support yourself.

We need you, we love you, we want you.

Namaste.

Scout Wilkins

About Scout:

Did you know that the root of the word courage is Heart?

Scout Wilkins is an expert in courageous living, who for thirty years has been learning and sharing the secrets to living life as a heart-centered, purposeful adventure. Her work combines the deep connection with nature she developed as a wilderness guide, the competence and can-do mindset of a highly successful entrepreneur, a pilot, and a mother, and her innate gift for understanding what makes people tick.

Scout is a bridge for powerful, passionate people who feel like they’ve hit a wall. She reconnects them with what’s deep in their heart, so they so they GO FOR IT. Scout is an international phenomenon, who has brought the light back into the eyes of hundreds of clients in 13 countries, on six continents.