Jumping out of the box

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Like the children’s toy Jack-in-the-box ~ when we decide to jump out of the box, it often comes as a surprise. To ourselves as well as to others...

When we jump out of the box ~ out of the fixed space we were in and away from the known things we were doing ~ we are suddenly confronted with a world full of possibilities and potentials. The only thing that in all likelihood doesn’t work for us anymore is doing the things we have always done the same way we have always done them...
Jumping out of the box can be like putting on a pair of glasses that allow you to suddenly see the whole world around you with 20/20 vision; and only when you have that experience do you realize how little of that world you were actually seeing before.
Jumping out of the box can be a truly life-altering experience as it prompts us to leave behind the fixed ideas we have had and puts us on a journey of discovery into the things we really like, we really want, we really need. Bringing us realizations as to what is truly meaningful and fulfilling in our lives.

It can bring surprises into our own lives in the sense that once out of that box we are no longer bound by its limitations ~ whether they were real or imagined ~ and therefore we can begin to explore new avenues, check out new things, wander into new directions. In doing so we may discover that the things we thought we liked are okay, yet there are better things that up to now we had never given any attention. By the same token there may be things out there we always dreamed about, but now that we actually have them within reach they aren’t quite as enamoring as we always thought we would be.

To the people around us, seeing us jump out of the box ~ the structure that is predictable and easy to understand ~ and into the flow of energies and situations that is happening all around us can be somewhat bewildering. All of a sudden we are not quite that predictable anymore. We may react differently, start doing different things, attract new friends and acquaintances into our lives. Perhaps develop new interests, new hobbies; trying out new sports. Or even changing careers.
To the people around us, as soon as we have jumped out of the box we are no longer the person they have always known...

Yet in this multi-faceted time, with its flow of energy, its patterns, in a sense even its newness ~ there is a lot to be gained by jumping out of the box!
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