Stepping off the rug

How many times have we heard the phrase: “I got the rug pulled out from under me.” How many times have we said it ourselves, or something similar?  It’s a common phrase because it’s a common feeling – that feeling of being out of control of our own circumstances, a victim of someone or something else’s decision-making or behaviors.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  We never have to have that feeling again.  How?  We step off the rug.

Stepping off the rug is easier than it sounds, and yet for something so simple, it can be extremely difficult to actually do.  The first step, of course, is realizing that 1) there is a rug, 2) we are standing on it, and 3) somewhere along the way, we turned over the power to manipulate and move the rug to someone or something else.  Once we realize that truth – how silly is it for us to remain in the same place, a victim of someone else’s whims?

And yet the rug is comfortable, it’s a known entity, and if we step off of it what will happen?  Is it a 'flying carpet,' and we fear tumbling down into the unknown?  Or is it a worn, loved and cherished rug because it’s been in the family for generations and abandoning it feels somehow “wrong?”  Only you can know the answers to these questions, but for most of us, it’s some combination of the two.  We fear the unknown of leaving something familiar.

So – how do we go about taking the first step (no pun intended!)?  I think it’s a matter of assessing our situation.  If we step off the rug into the great unknown, and it’s flying high above an abyss, then we’ll likely end up getting lost or hurt.  But what if we take a look around us, and see what is there before we step off?  What do you see?  Is it something you can step into? Or is it more of the same?  Or do you see nothing?  Once you’ve assessed where you are – you can make a decision.  Decision-making is the agent of change. 

Now, what if you look around and there’s nothing there?  Well – why not create your surroundings and situation as you wish them to be?  It is entirely possible, if not probable, that when you step off that well-worn and familiar rug, you will be in unknown territory.  That means, however, that it’s a blank canvas onto which you can create your own reality.  What do you want?  How do you want to be treated? Where are you going?  Who do you want to be?  Once you’re off the rug, and no longer being manipulated to be in a perpetual state of reaction – you can actually create your space, and subsequently the time you need to respond to situations and people.  And therein lies the key: responding instead of reacting.

Responses give you the time and space to make decisions in accordance with your inner self, your best self….who you are at your core.  Reactions are simply responses given from a heightened and uninformed emotional state.  They are usually not made with time and space, and are not in-line with your true essence.  Staying on a rug that is being moved about by someone or something else, means you have to react to everything around you.  You don’t have the time or space to respond.  Life is more hurried, hectic and uncomfortable.  And you are often the “victim” of external forces – or at least it feels that way (because we’re rarely ever victims.  Remember, it’s also a choice to stay on the rug, just as it’s a choice to step off.)

So – I ask you….have you ever felt like the rug has been pulled out from under you?  If so, what can you do about it?  What are you going to do about it?  Sometimes the first step is the hardest, but it can also be the most rewarding.  The rug won’t step out from under you.  You have to decide.  Do you want to stay on it, or step off?  In the end, as with everything, it’s all about choice.

In love and light,

Martina