While playing outside with my joyful puppy, Lacey, I heard an inconsistent bouncing ball coming from my neighbor's yard followed by - "Daaaad, I can't do it!" Then the conversation went something like this:
"Actually, I believe you can, but right now it's new to you so you just think you can't. Keep trying and it will get easier, I promise."
More inconsistent bouncing ball.
Daaaad, I can't. It's too haaaard."
"Okay. I realize it's hard but that's because you've never done this before. So would you be willing to just let it be hard and believe just a little bit that it could get easier the more you play through it?"
"Okay. I'll keep playing and see. But if it doesn't get easier I'm stopping no matter what."
"Fair enough."
Inconsistent bouncing ball. Inconsistent bouncing ball. Inconsistent bouncing ball. Consistent bouncing ball!
"Dad! I did it! I did it!"
"Great job! See what can happen when you keep playing through new stuff."
I don't know about you, but I've lost count at the amount of times I've felt like my 6 year old neighbor when I'm faced with doing something new, especially when I'm not all that comfortable with the task at hand.
However, I am so grateful that I heard this conversation because his dad said something so powerful, "...be willing to just let it be hard and believe just a little bit that it could get easier the more you play through it."
When we stop resisting the hard and allow for something different to show up we increase our chances tenfold of breaking through the wall.
And the idea of playing through the wall instead of working through it is so much more appealing. Isn't it? So why don't you and I make a pact to let the hard just be there as we play through it so we can continue to prove to ourselves what we're truly capable of.
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