When you set an intent, how much of your triangulation to reaching that desired outcome is based
on wishful thinking, and how much on actually doing the math? You may have a very clear
picture in your head about what you want to see in the real world. Set your vision accordingly,
and you may find yourself pleased with the outcome. However, when there’s so much in
between you and the target, both in time and space, you have to be very clear with how
you lay out your plan. You can certainly make a wish and cast your lot. Even with the most
steady hand sizing things up, it’s quite likely that eyeballing the objective is only
going to get you in the vicinity of where you’re aiming. In theory. In practice, if
you haven’t taken into account things like wind speed, current strength, curvature of
the earth, etc., you have to at least entertain the possibility that you could end up somewhere
far afield of your goal. Listen, you can trust your intuition all you want. That’s what
it’s there for. But do take a little time and effort to do some basic computations.
That can be as simple as making a short list of factors.
Even with the best track record in skipping stones or tossing horseshoes, you could find
the thing in front of you a new kind of challenge to your intuitional senses. If so, don’t
sweat it. Yes, the pressure may be on. After all, there’s not been such a grand set of
stakes at hand. The simulation gains substance. What gathers now in the crosshairs of your
view looks very different than the training videos had suggested. From a distance, there’s
a similarity; that’s something you find comfortable. However, taking in the details,
you see that things aren’t what they seem. Are those dreadful adversaries or circus clowns
lunging across the landscape? Is the far horizon’s diffuse glow signaling rising or setting light?
The shine on the stage casts so strong a reflection as to cause the things you’re looking at
to shimmer and lose coherence. Your eyes aren’t fooling you. Neither is your gut. The only
thing that could possibly be getting in the way of clarity now is that thing that tilts
the whole picture askew: the weight of risk.
What does the prospect of taking a chance conjure up in your mind? Even more important,
what does it stir in your innards? Does what you face now, as all things are positioned
in this moment, give your heart an extra beat, or one less? Is there a rising shakiness from
your back that gives your usually steady hand a little jitter? Take it easy now. This is
the moment the boss usually enters, isn’t it? Just when you think you’ve mastered
the fundamentals, along comes the unexpected. Your familiar instructor enters the classroom
dressed in bizarre costume, masked, their true intent hidden. You cannot tell if the
mask hides a grin or a sneer. Now the true teacher appears to give you the final lesson
before awarding your certificate of merit. Now enters fear. It might not look like the
monster you’d imagine. Usually, Nemesis sneaks in, catlike, in the shadowy edges of
the scene. And so she has. How do you line up your intent with such a mentor? Close your
eyes, go inside, and see what’s really there. It will steady your hand. Before you know
it, the mask will fall, and the truth will reveal itself with
a smile.