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Is Your Earth Flat?

by Ruth Ann Harnisch on 07/02/09 at 7:37 am

Years ago, when I was struggling to come up with a succinct way of describing all the different work I do, I asked my friend Marielen: “What do you say when people ask you what you do?” She said, “I tell them ‘I am enjoying my life.’”

I was trapped in the notion that what I “did” was my justification for taking up space on the planet. I was defending my life. (If you haven’t seen the great Albert Brooks – Meryl Streep movie “Defending Your Life,”  please do. It’s required viewing in Coach Ruth Ann’s Cinemacademy Of Life.)

If you Google me, you’ll see that I’m still “doing” in this world, but if you ask me what I do, I’m most likely to answer “I’m enjoying my life.” It took years, but I learned how to let that be enough. I no longer struggle to prove my worth, explain why I deserve to be here, or account for what I do with the hours of my day.

The wise Marielen recently introduced me to the Daily Quote from Abraham-Hicks publications (http://www.abraham-hicks.com), and I just read one that might change the map of your world.

In essence, it says that people used to think the earth was flat, not because their thinking was distorted, but because that was the conclusion based on the data they had collected. They were not able to step back far enough to get the big picture, to see the earth as it was, in perspective. (M. Scott Peck said something similar in The Road Less Traveled.)

Many of my coaching clients are clinging to a belief, a habit, a way of being that is based on the data they have collected so far in their lives. I used to think it was necessary to explain “what I do,” because the data I had collected led me to believe that I needed others to think I was “worthy,” which the data had told me was essential to my survival on the planet. (Starting with, “My parents will kill me if I don’t get good grades.”)

One of my clients is struggling to believe that there is such a thing as a rewarding love relationship, because the data collected so far has led to the conclusion that partners are untrustworthy, unsatisfying, and eventually, disappointing.  THE EARTH IS FLAT. My experience has given me different data, and I know that while no partnership is without some disappointments, it is indeed possible for joy to be the norm.

Whenever you find yourself trapped in a limiting belief, you might want to check your map. It’s possible that the data you’ve collected so far is telling you the earth is flat, when in truth, you need to step back and get a more accurate picture.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to continue enjoying my life.