Black Holes and New Starts

In every new opportunity there is an aspect of excitement and an aspect of dread.

The excitement comes from what is known and the perceived potential for growth, achievement, new experiences, and the such.

Dread comes from fear or doubt around the perceived challenges we think we’ll encounter, and even more so, the unknown aspects of the new opportunity.

There’s something about the unknown that elicits a strong response. Whether potentially good or bad, the unknown is simply that, unknown. Trying to prepare for the unknown is like trying to prepare for a journey into a black hole. There is no way to know what it will be like until we’re inside.

We can prepare for all the possible known experiences (based on past experiences). We can even attempt to prepare for imagined forthcoming experiences. But we still won’t really be able to know what’s going to happen with our new opportunity until we're in it.

This is where discernment, trust, and faith enter. Discernment that this new opportunity is for you. Trust that you have already been prepared for what you will encounter, and anything else you need will come along the way. And faith that even though you can’t see what is ahead, you are moving in the right direction.

Dread is sobering, and that’s a good thing. It checks our emotions of excitement. Discernment, trust, and faith, are grounding. They check the sobering affect of dread and allow joy to grow in the midst. Keep the balance, and move. There’s a lot of work to be done.