She peaked out from behind the trunk of the oak tree, and gazed at what lay ahead in the distance:
Big valleys…
Rolling hills…
Deep, dark, forest beyond.
And past the forest she’d heard was the land of unknown, where all the important things happened.
Each day she’d peak a bit more.
Each night she’d ponder venturing out.
She’d convinced herself to go there, where important things were happening….(convincing herself that here was not such a place nor were important things happening here).
She’d heard that people who lived in the land of the unknown not only were doing important things BUT they were stronger, wiser, more experienced, more worldy, important folk.
And some even spoke that theirs was the life worth living.
And she thought it would be a wise pursuit…to go there. (though she was not certain at all what important things she would do).
Yet…
At night?
The big ‘what if’s’ tugged at her heart.
What if she tripped and fell and got hurt on her journey? (She’d fallen before and hurt herself and shuttered at the thought of feeling pained again).
What if she ran out of supplies during her journey and starved? (She’d done that before too, although come to think of it she’d always found a way to find something to eat, so it wasn’t fair to assume she might starve).
What if there were mean people along the way who robbed her? (This hadn’t happened before but she’d heard people warn about such mean theives and robbers and the like).
And she convinced herself that these ‘what if’s’ were very vital concerns to think about, especially because in contemplating them occuring, she became extremely anxious. (And she would not want to risk becoming anxious ever on a journey, surely no).
And each night she would drift off to sleep and resolve to ‘think on it more tomorrow.’
And each tomorrow would come.
And she’d rise.
And clean.
And do what she was ought to do.
And then the lull would come.
And when the lull would come, that was her queue to stand behind the tree and peak out.
But not too much.
Only a little.
Years went by in this pattern.
One day she heard a voice: stand away from the tree.
And she heeded the call.
And she stood away from the tree.
And she stood.
And stood.
Until she realized “Hey, it doesn’t feel like I’m about to fall.”
And that night she fell asleep…standing.
And in the morning, she opened her eyes.
And she was still standing.
“Huh,” she thought.
“This whole time, as I’ve peaked around the tree and looked ahead at the land of unknowns, I’ve pondered all that can happen if I go there…to the land of unknowns….
I haven’t ever just taken one baby step in any direction….
And that’s what I did yesterdsay.
I took one step.
And this one step doesn’t mean that I am now ‘on my way’ to the ‘land of unknowns.’
In fact. I’m right here.
In the land of here.
And I just did something I’ve never known I could do before.
Huh.
And I wasn’t scared!
And there was no but what if to dwell on, stew over, and make me afraid.
I simply responded to the pull I heard within my heart.”
And she was rather fascinated that right there amidst the land of here, she did something so completely unfamiliar.
And it didn’t hurt.
And she didn’t lose her resources.
And she didn’t starve.
And no one attacked her.
And more?
She hadn’t spent any time or focus on the important things she was supposed to do.
That night, she thought “I think I will rename this place the land of here and then some” from now on.
And she smiled at this clever name. (She had a small tendency to sometimes do a giddy dancetoo when she was a little proud of herself, especially when no one was looking).
And she began to consider what else lies right in front of her, next to me, above her and below her that she’d never thought about doing before.
And she made a little wish.
“Please let me hear something else that’s super simple to do tomorrow.’
And she giggled because it sounded so childlike and spontaneous and hopeful all qualities she hadn’t allowed herself to experience in a long long while while she’d been stuck in fear of how to go to the land of unknowns and stuck in anxiety over what important things she ought to do.
And just as she was about to fall asleep, she sat straight up in bed.
I didn’t’ peak around the tree and look out to the land of unknowns one bit yesterday.
Not at all.
And I didn’t miss it.
I simply stood away from the tree.
Huh.
And with that glee in her heart, she fell asleep, peacefully.
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“Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts and exchanges the objects of sense for the ideas of soul.” Mary Baker Eddy
It’s all right here. Within. Not out there, unknown. Within. Known. Now. Whatever you’re stewing about, step away from that ‘thing’ you think you’re supposed to figure out. And take one step.