You Have To Learn To Be Your Own Safety Net

When I was six, all I wanted to do was sing, mind you, I was terrible. None the less, I belted out Shania Twain into my red plastic microphone stand like there was no tomorrow.

I grew up in a family that loved me very much, I was spoilt in the sense that they supported me in my ventures to play sport, learn instruments and my favourite childhood memory, moving the furniture around our lounge room so I could choreography some uber cool dance moves. Really, in the aspect of providing opportunity, my mother dominated.

All of these opportunities to try new things embedded an appreciation of individuality and how important it is to let go of any inhibitions. Then why, at 23 years of age did I suddenly start feeling that I was no longer capable of just jumping into the deep end?

As you grow into your own, you become more and more independent. Moving away from the safety of your parents and into the big wide world of taking control of your own choices. Your own, your very own choices. What will I have for breakfast? What mixer shall I add to this vodka? Should I sleep with this guy?

I mean, besides the decision about breakfast, the other examples are not decisions I have to make on a daily basis (lets just clear that up). But in saying that, I have to make these decisions without the people that guided me for so many years.

At the tender age of six, I was already making my own decisions, but it was with the consolidation of my mother. She would either cheer that it was a good idea, or propose that it was potentially something that I might need to think about for one more week. I always had someone in arms reach if anything went south. I always had my mother watching me from the sidelines. But there was a point when everything changed.

So many years of education and yet, I still struggle to be able to trust within the very depths of my mind that I am capable. I am capable to jump into the deep, to dive into the unknown. That I am capable to put into practice what my education has provided for me. Education in the sense of who I am as a person, and ultimately who I am becoming. I ask myself time and time again, why do I need to have an external safety net?

So many of us never venture out of our comfort zones in fear that we will have no one to catch us if we fall. But isn’t this one of the highest forms of true character strength? This is the highest form of true human resilience. I am resilient. My safety net is my own.

Learn to trust that your safety net is within you. How quickly you bounce back is completely up to you. You are more than capable. Take every decision as a learning and growing experience. Channel your inner six-year-old, just enjoy the moments, be present and learn to jump into the deep in, because the truth is, you already know how to swim.