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Pep Talk | Chin Up

grullaYou don’t feel like flying today, you say? You’re feeling life’s weight? If I say, “Chin up,” it may piss you off. It sounds trite, as though I expect you to down a placebo. Well, listen up.

You can’t fly without sticking your neck out.

Watch a bird in the moment before lifting off: head up, neck extended, chin high.

Don’t fold in on yourself in response to whatever heaviness life dishes out. Change your perspective through the tiny, simple step of raising your chin a fraction. If your chin resists, start by raising your eyes. Then untuck your chin from your chest. Then, millimetre by millimetre, crank it up.

Your lifted head sees further.

Looking down, all you see is the next shuffling step. A lifted head aligns your body, straightens your spine, improves your weight-bearing capability, allows your vision to find the horizon.

Rough times make big change feel far out of reach. So don’t reach that far. Reach one millimetre. Reach up. The rest will follow.

Inspire yourself. Lead with your chin.

Flickr photo: grulla, by kekremsi.

{ PEP TALKS deliver a bracing blast of Grace }

Related reading: Pep Talk | Reach Out

~ ~ ~

Thanks to Danielle LaPorte for her article yesterday about Daily Creativity Prompts
– i’m loving mondays: creativity prompts – on her website White Hot Truth,
where you can find great thinking backed by sparky attitude.

This was written by ownerceo. Posted on Tuesday, February 17, 2009, at 12:15 am. Filed under Pep Talks. Bookmark the permalink. Follow comments here with the RSS feed. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.

4 Comments

  1. Danielle LaPorte wrote:

    this reminds me of Al Pacino in Every Given Sunday, as a football coach, yelling, “It’s a game of inches, boys. A game of inches!”

    Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 9:17 am | Permalink
  2. Grace Kerina wrote:

    …now I’m imagining this article being read out loud by Al Pacino. Good one, D.

    Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 11:47 am | Permalink
  3. Emily-Sarah wrote:

    I love this! Thanks for good advice.

    Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 2:29 pm | Permalink
  4. Grace Kerina wrote:

    Yay! My original conception of this Pep Talks series has always included having an audio file for each one, so people can hear me reading the Pep Talks and hear how much I want them – you, everyone – to take heart and be encouraged.

    I’m still trying to figure out the technology for creating the MP3 files to add to each Pep Talks article (suggestions are welcome). Stay tuned.

    Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 4:12 pm | Permalink

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