Testing the Limits

.
If we would go about our daily business without ever looking to see what else could possibly be there, one could say that we would have created a self imposed prison. And while this place we would have created for ourselves might be comfortable, save, and secure ~ it could at the same time hold us back from achieving ever greater goals; or even from setting our sights at ever more exceptional potentials.

It is only natural to ~ every once in a while ~ test the limits of our comfortable day-to-day existence. To be curious enough to look beyond what we know; to see further than what we belief to be true at things unknown. To go in search of roads untraveled; of mountains that have yet to be explored.

Now that sounds as if we would need to travel the world to start testing our limits. However, that is not the case. Often the limits that hold us back most are a lot closer to home, and might be rooted in the belief system we grew up in.
In my mother tongue there is a saying that “if you are born to be a dime, you’ll never become a quarter”. Now, if that would be something one truly believes in, this would make it very hard to better oneself ~ to strive for that better job, that promotion, that better income... And to overcome a belief like that can very well be a mighty mountain to climb.

Other limits may have to do with our sense of security, our abilities, even our self esteem. Most of those are anchored within ourselves, and as such not only hard to discover as we tend to not see the things we are so close to. Once recognized they can be scary things to deal with.

And yet, testing the limits ~ perhaps especially these kinds of limits ~ can result in a great sense of freedom.
For instance, if you never dared speak in front of a group, yet you set yourself to do so anyway ~ you may actually discover that you are pretty good at it. And not only that, you may also find that you have a lot of wisdom to share with the world.

One thing is certain, testing the limits often is scary.
Walking a path that is untraveled, surely is not ‘the easy way out’.
It will however allow us to truly express our authentic selves ever more fully; bringing us to expressing our greatest potentials.
And from that perspective, testing the limits is without a doubt beneficial to us.
.
.