In 1519 during the Spanish conquest of Mexico, Hernan Cortes told his men to burn their ships so that they would have to conquer or die. He created point of no return. Hence the saying "Burn the Boats."
Sometimes in our lives we come to a place where we have to go and do really hard things. In the OCD/Anxiety world this is called "opposite action" Here is a chart that explains Opposite Action:
We have to decide if our actions are truly taking us to the places we want to go. Are they effective? If no, do the opposite. Burn the Boat! Take the risk!
None of us are strangers to facing challenges. Through my family's mental health journey we have had to look hard things square in the face.There are days I feel like I am fighting for my life or the life of a loved one (literally). I find myself looking back to the "days of ignorance or inexperience" and kind of want to go back. I mean, I really really really don't want to go back, but there is that small part of my brain that is lying to me and tells me that ignorance really is bliss (even though it definitely is not!). But when I look back and "pine" all it does is weaken my resolve to keep fighting and keep moving forward. And it negates all the GOOD that has come from our challenges.
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Sometimes we gotta Burn the Boats. We have to move forward and know that there is no return to what we had, but what is on the other side is far greater and glorious than those boats.
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Doing anything that is hard, if done with an attitude of courage and perseverance and resolve, will only result in growth and understanding.
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By Burning our Boats we're saying "I'm willing to give up something that feels comfortable and safe for something that can be lasting and beautiful...something more."
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Do you have "boats" that you've had to burn? Are you sitting in a boat that is holding you back? Try practicing Opposite Action this week. Notice how you feel. Celebrate your success and validate that you didn't die doing something hard...you just got stronger. Lmk how it goes!
xoxo, Betsy