Are you on a roll?

There’s nothing quite like momentum, is there? You can just feel it in action as the path you’re on gets easier and easier and you’re picking up speed. You’re soaring along with less and less effort and less and less intention…people and things show up in your life to propel you along your chosen path…you are flying! This whole concept would be unequivocally fabulous, except for one thing. Momentum works the same whether you are headed in a positive direction or a destructive one.

I’ve heard story after story from clients who can’t quite figure out when things started heading in the wrong direction. They realize that at some point they must have established habits that have become so comfortable and so ingrained that they are incredibly challenging to break. Life got busy. They stopped cooking. They forgot to exercise. They came to rely on processed foods or restaurant takeout. They neglected key relationships or stopped participating in activities that fed their souls. Their downward spiral built momentum and it seemed unstoppable.

And then one day, thanks to whatever “sign” got their attention, they hit the brakes. They STOPPED the momentum. And they looked up to figure out where they were and how in the world they got there.

I see this stopping point, this resting place, as magical. This moment of stillness and reflection represents the opportunity to consciously choose a new direction. It holds within it the golden opportunity to course-correct.

Yet for all the magic and potential of that moment, it also holds a new challenge. You have to begin from a standing start. There is no momentum yet. Your old lifestyle felt easy and comfortable and effortless as you were rolling along with the wind at your back…coasting. Your newly chosen path feels hard…impossible even. It takes extraordinary effort to begin. It takes even more effort to persevere through the ups and downs and fits and starts of the first days or weeks or months. Memories of the old, easy, way haunt you. You take two steps forward and one step back. Yet slowly, carefully, with great intention, you begin to build momentum for this new direction. The new rituals become more routine and take less mental energy to complete. You begin to feel a yearning for your chosen new behaviors. You start to forget the old direction. Slowly, you gather momentum and new people and new experiences show up in your life to support you on your journey in the new direction. And one day you find that this life has become every bit as easy as the old one and you can’t imagine living any other way.

So….are you on a roll? In which direction are you headed? Is it time to bring yourself to that potential-filled resting place and choose a new course?