Are you currently living in the shadow of one of life's looming walls?

Maybe there's a specific obstacle, struggle, or future event that is blocking out the light right now. Perhaps you're aware that something feels wrong but you don't know what it is or how to deal with it.

We encounter walls everyday in life. We've been smashing through them and turning them into memorial strongholds (chapters in our story of becoming), since we were born. We've always conquered seemingly impossible and insurmountable obstacles in front of us, and come through the other side to tell the tale.
If you could click your finger and change one thing about your life right now, what would be different?

Maybe you can think of a specific thing that you want to have. Perhaps it's something in particular you want to get rid of. Or maybe it feels slightly harder to define than that.

Can you think of a time when you did something you never dreamed you would actually be able to do?

Maybe it was something you really wanted to achieve and kept putting off. Perhaps it was something you had always feared happening, but when it did you found ways to cope and get through it. Or maybe it was something that you never anticipated, but as you look back feel proud of the past version of you that managed to somehow get through it.

What comes to mind for you?
For Me:

Going on a Rollercoaster
Dealing With Heartbreak
Performing at an International TEDx Conference

Oh. I opened up the floodgates. There are many more...

Surviving my first day at secondary (high) school, where I didn't know anyone and felt completely petrified. Travelling internationally on my own for the first (and the second, third, forth etc) time. Being in a car crash (and dealing with the aftermath). Doing my first call-out as an undertaker. Looking after children (not my own), on my own for the first time. I could go on!

How about you?

It doesn't matter what you suspect others would think of your choices. Your walls are yours.

Our walls belong to us. They have special meaning for us.

What you see as a wall might be nothing for someone else, and the thing that someone else is scared to confront might be a picnic in the park for you. It's funny how this stuff works.

But despite everyone's unique differences, there are three common characteristics that seem to show up for all of us as we face, confront, and overcome the walls we face in and around our lives.
1. Courage
Ignoring a wall doesn't make it disappear. Even if we successfully manage to avoid it, the shadow it casts over our life can be conspicuous.

If we don't admit, acknowledge, and accept its presence, we can't do anything about it.

But this takes 'courage', because it's not always comfortable or simple to allow ourselves to see what we might not want (or feel permitted) to see. The wall might even just be worry (fear without action). Once investigated (like a funny noise in the car, odd behaviour from our partner, or a strange symptom in your body), the thing we fear might turn out to be nothing. But unless we muster the courage to see, our fear will just turn into the drain of worry.

Courage in this sense is simply admitting a feeling to ourselves. "I'm not happy", "I'm worried", "I really want to pursue this goal", "this means a lot to me".

It takes courage to allow yourself to hold the possibility that things might need to change. An uncomfortable moment of self-honesty. Of turning to face the wall and simply say to yourself "yep, I see it".
2. Bravery
Bravery is about acting DESPITE fear. It's not about acting WITHOUT fear. Once we've acknowledged the presence of a wall we can envision what sits the other side of it. This helps us identify the specific bricks that sit between us and the place we want to be instead of where we are. This shows us what we need to do in order to get through the wall.

We meet the bricks with bravery.