What If...

This article wasn't planned. Like many of my articles it simply found me while I was having a cuppa with a lovely group of ladies.

As we chatted I noticed one lady kept saying the same two words.

"What if..."

What if I do this?

What if it doesn't work?

What if I make the wrong decision?

What if...?

I don't think she even realised how many times she said it but I certainly noticed. Then I heard those familiar words in my mind... "I will write about that."

So here we are.

I wonder how many of us live our lives inside what if without even realising it.

It sounds like such a harmless little phrase but it has an amazing ability to keep us exactly where we are.

What if I fail?

What if they don't like me?

What if I lose money?

What if I embarrass myself?

What if I'm wrong?

One little question leads to another until we've created a whole story about something that hasn't even happened.

Before we know it we've talked ourselves out of giving something a go. The funny thing is what if rarely asks about the good stuff.

It doesn't often say...

What if this changes your life?

What if you surprise yourself?

What if it turns out even better than you hoped?

What if this is exactly what you've been waiting for?

Instead our minds seem to be very good at preparing us for disasters that may never happen.

Over the years I've come to realise that fear can be very clever. It often disguises itself as being sensible.

We tell ourselves we're just thinking things through. Sometimes we are  however sometimes we're simply creating a future that only exists in our imagination.

Our mind is trying to keep us safe. The trouble is it can also keep us from growing trying something new and discovering just how capable we really are.

Think about your own life for a moment.

What if you hadn't taken that job?

What if you hadn't moved?

What if you hadn't walked into that class?

What if you hadn't spoken to that person who later became an important part of your life?

Some of the biggest moments in our lives begin with uncertainty.

If we waited until we knew exactly how everything would turn out we'd probably never start.

Maybe there's another question we could ask ourselves.

Instead of...

"What if it all goes wrong?"

How about...

"What if I trust myself?"

Or...

"What if I can handle whatever comes my way?"

Because here's what I've learnt. Life doesn't promise certainty. It offers experience.

Sometimes things work out exactly as we'd hoped. Sometimes they don't however every experience teaches us something if we're willing to see it.

The next time you hear yourself saying what if just pause for a moment. Listen to the question you've asked. Then ask another one that gives possibility the same chance.

Because maybe the life you're looking for isn't waiting on the other side of certainty.

Maybe it's simply waiting on the other side of one small brave step and just imagine...

What if everything turns out better than you ever thought possible?

To the lovely lady I shared a cuppa with... thank you. You may have thought you were simply saying "what if" but you gave me something far greater. You gave me another article. Thank you for reminding me that inspiration often arrives in the simplest of moments and the most ordinary conversations.