Waiting For That Other Shoe to Drop

You know that feeling you get when something really great happens? Imagine you just got the job offer you had been hoping for, your boss just offered you a raise or you signed a new client. Imagine your child just came home with straight A’s and that your spouse has been in a good mood and has been picking up his or her dirty socks.

After your initial elation what usually goes through your mind? Is it something along the lines of, “This thing that just happened is so amazing. I wonder who or what is going to show up in my life to balance this out”?

“I wonder what bad thing is waiting around the corner.”

“I wonder when the other shoe is going to drop.”

Recently I have had several conversations with people who were saying these exact things and so I thought it warranted a blog post. Because if you read this blog regularly you’re probably already familiar with the idea that thoughts become things. What we focus on is what we attract more of in our life. So, when we think about the next bad thing and focus on what’s bound to go wrong we are actively inviting that very thing into our world.

No one would purposely do that, right? Well, if you’re not careful you could inadvertently be attracting the very thing that you don’t want if you subscribe to this way of thinking. What if instead you start training your brain and yourself to expect only the best to show up? How much more often would that happen than if you go around all the time looking for the worst possible outcome?

“But I don’t want to be disappointed.”

That is the natural objection to this way of thinking, but aren’t you saying, by expecting (and setting yourself up for) the worst, “But I don’t want to be thrilled and delighted”?

I’ve been studying this stuff long enough to know that what we think about we bring about and what I know for sure is that I would much rather focus on the positive outcomes that I desire in life. When you start doing that setbacks that do show up begin to feel more and more temporary and insignificant because you’re clear on the picture of the life you’re actively creating.

So, I say forget about the whole other shoe thing. Enjoy your victories and expect more of them. Give life the benefit of the doubt and prepare to be delighted and amazed by what comes back at you.