Answering the call

In a previous article, I wrote about the idea of a ‘call to adventure’ and how we are being continually called to live the life we actually want to be living. People may refuse to answer this call for a number of reasons, fear of the destiny that is beckoning, being too young to bear the burden of the gifts available. Or it may be that a mentor understands that there are other skills required before stepping out, or even an instinctual but unspoken knowledge that the time is not yet right.

So what is this next step? Joseph Campbell, who’s life’s work revolved around studying mythology and applying this reservoir of knowledge to how we live as human beings, calls this step ‘crossing the threshold of adventure’.

A leap into the unknown

It may be labelled a step but for most this is a quantum leap; by that I mean not just a huge step, but a paradigm shift, a leap that requires us to rethink our basic categories and strategies, to alter our most cherished and strongly held assumptions. A leap into the unknown.

It often means leaving behind that which is familiar and comfortable, a world that we understand and can manage, and crossing over into the adventure. At this stage there usually exists a guide, someone to point the way, or provide whatever is necessary, for the adventurer to take the next step. And this guidance is being offered repeatedly, even if at the time it’s not obvious that this is what’s being offered, it is available.

The 'Dangers'

And you still have to make the decision to cross the threshold of adventure. It is also understood that, like the folklore of indigenous tribes, beyond their own territory, in lands as yet unexplored, there are monsters and terrors out there. And even the powers at the boundary are dangerous, and dealing with them is risky.

Joseph Campbell suggests that, for those with competence and courage, the danger of these guardians fades. And any demons beyond the threshold, which any hero meets who goes beyond the walls of his tradition, are not only sources of danger but also bestowers of magic power.

The Boon

There are exaltations and pleasures available within the adventure that are absolutely unimaginable from outside the adventure. These become available only to those who take the leap, those who are ready and willing to make that choice to go beyond what is comfortable to them.

For those who do move across the threshold, it becomes a different life... a magical life where you have a deepfelt sense of being on your unique and individual path... knowing how to choose with absolute clarity the direction that allows you to be most who you are...

What would have to be true of you to take the next step in your personal evolution?

At the greatest level at which you can consider it, having taken the step, how would your life be different?

"Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps" David Lloyd George

Dr David McDermott
http://www.decision-making-confidence.com/career-advice.html