Is it time to take a giant leap?
Alison Smith
Unconventional speaker using unique proven LANDSCAPE toolkit to inspire change inside and out | Facilitator | Breakthrough & Creative coach | Podcaster | Poet #LandscapingYourLife #Nature #24YearsOfSeeingResults
If enough is enough and you know something needs to change this may be just what you need.
Similarly, if life has got a little (or even a lot) overwhelming and you're desperate for the chaos and stress to be left behind - read on.
And/or if you're just wanting some great tools for helping you to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be - I'm glad you came across my post.
Happy 29th February – an extra day that explains why it’s called a leap year – because our birthdays leap forward an extra day ie a Monday birthday this year usually means a Tuesday birthday the next year expect on a leap year when it leaps to a Wednesday.
It’s the metaphor of leaping that I want to explore in today’s newsletter and, as ever, to get the most from the exploration it would be helpful to have a leap you’d like to make in your life at the back of your mind as you read the following and even engage in some of the exercises which include:
POEMS
Back in August 2022 I was headed for my own giant leap as I prepared for a knee replacement after years of pain within, what I hadn’t realised was, a world that had got smaller.
Life as I knew it was going to change and there was equal measures of resistance, fear and excitement.
To speak to that resistance I wrote some poems - the first of which was:?
THE WORLD GOT SMALLER
Infinitesimally each day, for the last 20 years, my world has got smaller
Unobserved
No resistance
Just acceptance
An allowing
Believing it’s just the way it is
That life gets smaller over time
That dreams once cherished start to feel like fairy tales
And distances travelled become shorter and shorter
Not giving up
Nor fighting for what was or might be
More a resignation for what is
My world got smaller
and I didn’t even notice
If poems are you sort of thing, you’ll find some other inspiring poems that I wrote to help me take my leap in my Taking a giant leap pdf - comment below and I'll send you a copy.
Since that time other poems around successfully taking the leap have let themselves be known and have also been included in the above document.
I do hope that one, a few, or all of the poems provide some insight and inspiration to the giant leap you’re wanting to take.
Do let me know how you get on and which poems or stanza’s particularly resonate.
DRAWING
If you were to draw the space over which you want to leap – if you were to draw where you are (A) and where you want to get to (B) - what would it look like?
How far is it from A to B?
What’s the landscape over which you have to leap like?
Then once you have drawn the image that represents the leap you have to make – make additions to that image – ie what would make the leap easier?
You may even want to draw an image with you having successfully made the leap.
The idea is you’re drawing is going to shift the internal representation you have about the situation – providing you with metaphorical suggestions about how to make the leap easier or perhaps even to just inspire your action.
Here’s my before and after images
With solutions for bridging the gap including a hot air balloon, a trapeze, flying over, using a jet pack, trampolining,? wearing shoes with springs, taking a tightrope walk, using a bridge or steps across it or even getting a map and walking all around the gorge to get to the other side.
Or perhaps the gap isn’t high as much as it’s wide or has dangerous animals in it!
Just keep going until you’ve exhausted all possible solutions to whatever landscape you’re drawn.
Then notice what you notice?
What does the leap you wanted to take feel like now?
What action can you take to successfully get to the other side?
When will you take it?
OUT IN NATURE
The other option is to go out into nature and find a gap to safely leap – to prove to yourself you can do it and to also get insight about how to do it easily and effortlessly.
Remember the reason we use metaphor, either via drawing or in nature, is because we get to send the story (and all the judgements and drama) on a coffee break whilst we explore the underlying patterns of what’s really going on.
Once we’ve made sense of the patterns, even released some unhelpful thinking, or adapted a belief or two, it’s surprising how much more solvable the leap will feel once we step back into the situation.
In a podcast episode entitled How to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be (Apple /Spotify ) I used St Andrews beach, in Fife Scotland, to act as a metaphor for the gap. The sand dunes were one side of the gap and the edge of the tide at the other side. Each step I took across the gap from A to B provided insight about what was stopping me taking the leap in the real-life situation.
A Landscaping Your Life walk might also be an option – see link to instructions for taking your situation on a walk with you – although these walks are the basis of many Landscaping Your Life coaching sessions with me too.
PODCAST
If you’re still feeling a little resistant to taking that leap I’d highly recommend having a listen to one of the Landscaping Your Life podcast episodes that best describes how you’re feeling – you’ll find a full index here – although a few episodes that might resonate include:
At the time of my knee replacement operation, I offered a 12 week programme inviting others to join me as we took a giant leap together. If you’re interested in finding out more about the Take a giant leap programme and plans for delivering it in 2024 do get in touch. Similarly, if you’d like to know more about Landscaping Your Life coaching sessions to help with your giant leap.
I’m also very happy to say that I’m currently delivering a soft skills 3 month programme to a team where I’m sharing everything that’s ever made a different to my life around self-awareness, motivation, communication, influencing, relationships, and even a session on why words have power. I’m like a kid in a sweetshop.
With much love
Alison xx