I can still remember it now…

I’m around 5 years old, and sitting at the top of one of those molded slides for swimming pools. You know, the ones that everyone had back in the 70’s and 80’s?

I’ve got three very frustrated lifeguards around me, one on each side of the slide, and one at the bottom in the water. I’m completely stuck at the top of this slide. There was no way on Earth I was going to let go and let myself go down the slide. It looked too scary!

It took them over an hour of cajoling, but eventually I finally let go.

What happened? I enjoyed the ride! But not without a lot of wasted time and suffering for all involved.

Yesterday a dear friend and very intuitive man played this Ted talk for me:

David Steindl-Rast: Want to be happy? Be grateful

This is a fantastic talk, very simply spoken, that gets to the core of crucial strategies for happiness.

One of the strategies is termed, Stop, Look, Go! It is a process of taking a moment to stop in life, assess where you are with full consciousness, but quickly moving to the GO Part.

That’s exactly what I was missing at the top of that slide, the GO!

And, it is what is missing for anyone that feels stuck, is reflecting too much on the past, or is having trouble accepting what is (otherwise known as arguing with reality.)

What happens when we remember the Go?

• We get unstuck
• We let go of worrying about our troubles and just live
• We forgive ourselves for our past
• We get into flow
• We engage our heart at a much higher and more pleasurable level
• We have access to much more inspiration
• We greatly reduce suffering.
• We minimize the opportunity loss that comes from stuckness and suffering. In other words, we create more good.

I know my friend played this talk for me for good reason. If you’ve made it this far into this post, I suggest you are reading it for good reason as well.