If you’ve been here for a while you might remember one of our monthly books: Untamed by Glennon Doyle (notes are in your Member Area). One of the stories that really impacted us was the one about the cheetah, Tabitha, who was born in a zoo. The keepers decided it would be cool to train her. So they gave her a Labrador friend, Minnie, and trained her to chase around a jeep with a dirty pink bunny tied to it, so zoo patrons could watch her speed and agility. The problem was: she was a cheetah. And she was chasing a dirty pink bunny. Completely tame. Glennon said that as she and her daughter watched Tabitha after the chase, they through for a moment that the cheetah looked around at who she was and what she was doing and thought, “I just thought life would be more beautiful than this.”
If you have the book, go back and read that passage or watch it here. If it doesn’t bring a tear to your eye or give you the shivers, then maybe you have also been tamed and you’re not aware of what else your life could be like. Or perhaps it’s the opposite for you: your wild, wonderful life is even better than you ever dreamed (huzzah). Or maybe you are so untamed that you have never had a similar inkling- and you are as free as your heart desires. We would love to hear what it brings up for you (if anything).
Our is to get you thinking. This month has been all about the nuances between control and influence, and what magic can happen if we choose to let it go. To allow the space for some untaming. To get your wild back. And to look around at your life and say, “This is precisely as beautiful as I dreamed.” Rather than looking around, wondering what could have been, or even what you sort of feel it should be like, and becoming aware of some kind of longing.
This is where the Cheetah Magic happens.
We have a very strong suspicion, that in noticing the space between what you thought your one sparkling life would be like, and what it actually is right NOW (not some day far off in the future) is where Cheetah Magic lives. Yes, we are making up a thing here, but we think that Cheetah Magic is the moment where you open your eyes big and wide and say, “I deserve something more than this.” Not, “I want it” or “I will have it one day,” but I DESERVE it. That’s the magic.
We often say that the space between what we expected and what we actually received is the home of discontent- be it in relationships, family dynamics or career opportunities. That icky feeling of loss, frustration, disappointment, anger or even unworthiness is created when we have unmet expectations. We thought it would be one way, and it turns out another. The magic is in what we do next.
This week we want you to begin your Cheetah Magic. To stand up like Tabitha and look around your veld. Is it everything you longed for? Is it better than you imagined? Is there anything missing? If there is a gap between expectation and reality, really look have a good look at it.
Magic Spell:
Step One is to name it.
Step Two is to imagine that distance being filled: What does it need?
Step Three is to make a decision: Do you want to untame and create that life? Or do you want to take that desire and decide it’s not for you, and therefore Let It Go?
The choice is yours. We promise that whatever you choose, you will be so much more YOU in the choosing. There is a moment right now that is open for you to decide to control the only thing you really can: You.
Call in your Cheetah Magic, chicks. This is your time.