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There is a food superstition that's been around for ages that states that after you drop your food to the ground, it will take approximately 5 seconds for germs to contaminate it and make it uneatable. This common superstition states that if you pick up your food before the 5 second mark, then your food will be clean for consuming since the germs haven't gotten to it yet.
Now don't get me wrong, it's been long proven this superstition is erroneous but we won't be talking about germs or food here. At least not the food we consume with our stomachs! Instead, we'll be talking about the food our soul consumes. Which is what? Positive energy and negative energy.
Right now, I'm going to tell you a story that envisions the point I'm trying to pass across. While you read it, imagine this orb is you. Live, breath and feel whatever the orb experiences. Well then... here we go:
The Universe's Energy
There is a colorless orb floating in a dark confined space. The orb feeds from its own energy, feeling nothing but what it wants to feel or worse, feeling nothing. Suddenly, a bright yet tiny light shines from a tiny dot in the confined space.
The orb is attracted to this light, the orb blindly moves towards the tiny dot. The orb does not know what consequences this shining dot will bring upon it's lifespan, but it moves towards the dot anyways since it's the first time the orb sees such a light.
The orb has entered the light, inside this white area he comes across red, blue, yellow, green, violet, orange, pink, grey and brown. For the first time, the orb see what colors are.
The orb, in curiosity, sucks the blue color and gulps it. Now the orb is blue. The orb quickly feels a rush of emotions such as trust, serenity, calm spreading across it's tiny body...they were positive emotions but not ones it expected to feel, but wait...he quickly notices blue also reflects his other half of emotions..this are coldness, unfriendliness, aloofness. This were emotions it did not want to feel, but it was feeling them, against its will.
Upon feeling this negative emotions, the orb spits out the blue color. It then sucks the pink color and is now pink. The orb is feeling sensations such as nurturing, warmth and love. It is feeling happy again but wait...negative emotions surface once again..emotions such as inhibition, claustrophobia and weakness.
The orb quickly spits the color pink. It eventually feeds upon every color in the white space...but every single color makes it feel good at first, but badly after and they were all emotions the orb could not control. The orb simply wanted to take control of its feelings, like how when it was inside the dark confined space..but outside..all this emotions kept disrupting the balanced emotions it had inside the confined space.
The orb doesn't like this. The orb likes the controlled comfort inside the darkness, where no colors could hurt it and only its thought mattered. Just when the orb is about to return to the dark confined space, the colors scream "Stop!! 5 Seconds!! Just stay still 5 seconds and give us a chance to prove ourselves,for once in your life!!
The orb understood the words right away, it returned and sucked all of the colors. Now the orb has the colors of rainbows. It can feel all types of emotions. It feels positive emotions and negative emotions. Each time the negative emotions strike, the orb has an urge to return to its dark confined place..where nothing can hurt and it's safe for eternity..but instead it stays still, very still and allows all this emotions to take over.
The light whispers: "Well? How is it?"
"It isn't as bad as I thought it was." Says the orb.
"Exactly, there will always be negative and positive energy in life but it's all about learning to live on-- because life will never be perfect. When you were in your confined space in the dark, which we call
the comfort zone, you felt safe because you were not taking risks and without risks you aren't truly living, but now that you have given us unwanted situations and emotions a chance to prove ourselves, you have now learned that your fears weren't as bad as you thought they were. It was simply a matter of stopping and feeling one last time before giving up."
The orb smiles and thanks the colors. It realizes there will always be negative emotions as long as it allows positive emotions inside, but it was far better than living in the dark and doing nothing, the answer wasn't to wait for the storm to pass, but to learn to dance in the rain.
Moral: "To love is to risk not being loved at all. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing-- so give yourself a chance and enter the light for 5 seconds, 5 seconds only and then tell me which you'd path you'd rather choose? The life in the darkness that feels safe but will lead you nowhere, or the light outside that is dangerous but will guarantee you a life of excitement and achieved dreams. Your choice."
The 5 Second Rule
We have a habit to live in this dark - yet cozy room - called our comfort zone. We live in this warm room that gives us a sense of security and happiness, but this security is false. When somebody opens the door to our room, a small light peaks in and it hurts our eyes. The wider that door is opened, the more we want to curl up and hide. Our eyes can't stand the reality, it's so unbearable that we run to close it again, close our eyes, and be safe once more. We don't want to step out of our rooms, because we are AFRAID to be HURT!
Inside our dark room we feel safe in the comfort of our internal positive energy. We will feel safe and in control because who treats us better than we do? We know how to treat ourselves better than anybody else. If it's just you, nobody will hurt you and it's safe...but is that REALLY living? Hiding from the world and staying inside that comfort zone, no exploration, no growing as a person, you remain in this comfort zone sooo long that simply lifting your view and looking at your window hurts too much.
That's where the 5 second rule kicks in. Sometimes we are afraid of what's behind that door, so - SO afraid that we don't want to even think about the outside world. The answer to breaking our comfort zone?? Simply stand up, open that door-- Feel as you want to hide again? STOP and keep walking, don't stop, for 5 seconds don't think, just keep walking outside and look only at the light.
Now you are outside, now look at your fear right there before your eyes. You have but just stepped outside of this door and yet, you feel like locking yourself inside again. But STOP, don't move. Just watch and feel your fear.
Touch it, smell it, taste it, hear it, look at it.
You can feel the emotions towards this fear enter your body, you can feel negative emotions screaming to hide inside again but STOP stay there, don't do anything just keep observing the emotions you are experiencing towards this fear for 5 seconds...now accept this emotions, close the door behind you and keep walking towards the light. Your fear is still there but believe me, when you live in flesh and blood your fear, it WILL vanish on its own.
New fears will always re-surface, there will never be a perfect day, there will always be a strom your entire life. That will never change so like I said in the story "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass but learning how to dance in the rain.
By the way, when I say 5 seconds I'm saying it as figurative speaking. We can take as long as 5 to 30 minutes in this space observing our emotions. The point of this mental exercise is to take a deep breath and give life a chance. Allow yourself at least one chance to step outside of your comfort zone and visualize(or actually live) that which you MOST fear and see how it's like...Is it as scary as you thought it was or did you realize it wasn't such a big deal at all?
If so, close the door and keep walking. Never look back again and when you do STOP, breath..5 seconds...observe.
The science behind this exercise
It's been proven that to combat fear, you have to live that which you fear. If you are afraid of public speaking, do that lots and lots till the fear is there no more. If you are afraid of being humiliated, then be the person you really are since the first moment you meet strangers and even if they make fun of you, keep on being you anyways. The day will come when those negative feedback will have no effect in your self-esteem and that real friends will pop up and accept the real you.
Observe as the world judges you, some in negative ways and others in positive ways. You might change, but the world won't change with you. That's why it's so important to apply the 5 second rule and see that stepping out of our comfort zones ain't so bad after all. Are YOU ready to step out of your comfort zone :)?
photo credit:
martinak15 via
photopin cc,
photo credit:
Andrew Morrell Photography via
photopin cc
