How do we bring our entire self to what is in front of us? We go ALL IN.

What does go “all in” mean?  There is a way to be all in, in feeling, in enthusiasm, in presence. Engaging wholeheartedly in an open way with no attachment to outcome.

Going all in, brings forth an aliveness and a connection that allows what is there to grow and expand. To have more life.

Are you willing to go “all in” or are you hesitating? Are you willing to engage fully in your life, your work, your expression or are you waiting for a certain guarantee? Are you willing to go all in for a relationship or are you waiting for better conditions or to know it will work out?

In many ways, we are often evaluating or deciding to hold back or be all in. Our minds plan, strategize, look for red flags, remind us to be cautious. Yet when our minds are free, when we get present, the call to engage is loud. The nudge to play, to share, to give it go, to love, to express, to show up fully is right there.

Just recently, I realized that I was being cautious, holding back, waiting for perfect conditions before going all in on something. I had gotten an idea that it needed to happen a certain way. That an individual had to show up a certain way first. So, I kept waiting. What’s striking to me is how the feeling of hesitation, caution, waiting and overthinking completely overshadowed my original feelings of excitement, openness, and trust.

Eventually, I saw what I was doing. I wasn't responding to the moment, the possibility, or where I was drawn, I had started to respond to and live in the feeling of questioning and doubt. I was experiencing where my mind was taking me and going all in started to look like a bad idea.

Once I realized I was swimming in my mind and not in the here and now, I was able to adjust and get present. The natural feelings of enthusiasm were right there. The joy and the aliveness were there for the taking.

Our minds can make mountains out of molehills. When we let our heart lead, when we let the connection lead, and engage with no attachment to outcome, to time or to the perfect conditions, we experience the fullness of life, the energy and fulfillment that comes by being all in.

That connection, the feeling, has a life of its own. 

We frequently diminish our desire to engage wholeheartedly, to love, to share ourselves or try something totally new until we can be assured that our efforts will take us somewhere. This then becomes the very thing that keeps us from feeling the fullness of who we are or the moment.

We overthink, hesitate, and stall until the gap between where we are and where we want to be has become an abyss in our minds.

Hesitation, waiting for guarantees, trying to figure out if it's worth it or if that person is worth it, dilutes our experience and dilutes our original inspiration or that nudge encouraging us to share, create, give in to the moment and to experience it fully.

It is the resistance to enter fully into the moment, the conversation, the relationship, our creative ideas that makes it feel out of reach. It's a trick of the mind.

When we pull back in our minds or hesitate it creates the feeling of disconnection. Disconnection to our deeper nature, our creativity, love and enthusiasm. Soon hesitation acts like a wet blanket on our inspiration.

A habit of hesitation leads to less fulfillment, less aliveness. We want a guarantee of a certain outcome, or that we won't get hurt or disappointed. We wonder, can we trust ourselves, the situation or the other individual. Can we trust life?

When we lean into the feeling of where we are drawn, when we lean into intimacy, connection, to our heart’s desires and go beyond our need for a guarantee, we discover the joy of going all in. We discover not only can we trust it, but the prize is in going all in.

The prize is experiencing the fullness of who we are. The richness of being in our lives. 

When we go all in, in a feeling way, and we engage wholeheartedly with our ideas, our expression, our relationships we discover ourselves and each other in new ways. 

The feeling of aliveness that comes from being in our lives versus in our heads is palatable. We crave it. 

Yes, it's bumpy and scary and a roller coaster but the feeling of aliveness energizes us, sustains us.