The Velvet Rope
Love is a funny thing. It quickens the heart and makes our palms sweat. Love can turn even the most confident, self-assured people, into puddles of nervous mush! Love asks us to be vulnerable and open and yet it offers no guarantees!
Isn’t that amazing??! Love MAKES us courageous. Sure the door might slam shut. But then again, it might not. It might lead us to our soulmate and to our happily ever after.
We are willing to take a chance because the “maybe” being offered to us is worth the risk.
My friends who are actors learn that even the auditions that are total flops are NOT failures. The actors learn something about themselves. They learn what to do differently. And perhaps this is most important.
Remember, there is no such thing as failure. Even if we take a risk and things don’t work out, we have gathered valuable information and the benefit of a practice run!
I have a challenge for you. I want you to take a little step just outside of your comfort zone; just left of what you would normally do!
Below are a few things you can try to prove to yourself that it’s ok to take risks! The world won’t end and you just might surprise yourself.
Here goes:
- Call someone you don’t know. It can be someone you have been wanting to connect with for your business or a random name from the phone book. (Assuming some people out there still have a good old fashioned phone-book.) Even if you just end up saying that you have the wrong number, just call!
- Hold eye contact. When you see a man in public, hold his gaze and smile for a FULL 5 seconds. Eye contact doesn’t have to be uncomfortable. It can be incredibly intimate. In fact, make sure you find your target attractive because this is a powerful attraction method.
- Pay for the dinner of someone you don’t know. Next time you are in a restaurant, while you are still sitting there (as opposed to when you are leaving!) pay for the dinner or dessert of someone else sitting near you. They will likely come over to thank you, which allows you to have a nice conversation with a complete stranger. Just tell them that someone did something nice for you, and you were simply paying it forward.
- Ask for something for free. Doesn’t matter if you don’t get it! Buying something from the farmer’s market? Say, “Will you throw in a free apple?” Bartering with credit card company? Say, “Any chance I could get one-month interest free?” Again it doesn’t matter if they say “no,” but they just might say “yes”!
- Eat out alone. Awesome, gutsy people have no problem eating alone. And it just might open the door for someone to fill the empty chair beside you.
- Publicly declare your hidden dream! Tell your friends, tell your co-workers, post it on Facebook. Let the world know what your biggest, juiciest daydream really is!
- Say “hi” and smile at every person you pass on the street. Not only does this stretch your comfort zone a bit, but it puts you in a position of BECOMING love. And you might just make someone else’s day! You never know who might have needed that simple kindness from you.