Are the crazies driving the bus?

Life’s a journey, and you’re travelling by bus (it’s a tired cliché but stay with me on this). You get to steer the bus wherever you want to go. Sometimes you take the direct route, sometimes you prefer the scenic route. Sometimes you get completely lost! Those times it’s important to stop and remember where you were headed in the first place and re-set your GPS so you can get back on track.

All good, right? Just as long as you’re in the driver’s seat and deciding the direction of the bus.

But what no-one tells you about the bus ride is that you have to take a whole lot of crazy characters with you. And no, I’m not talking about your family! I’m talking about all the thoughts and feelings that are scary and uncomfortable for you. The crazies on the bus will do anything to get you to stop the bus. When you stay very still and don’t go anywhere out of your comfort zone, they’re happy.

Here’s how it goes: You decide what you want in life and you start up the bus. As you set off on your journey, the scary thoughts and feelings show up just as sure as the sun will rise. The more important the thing is that you want, the louder the crazies get, because the stakes are higher!  Whether you’re heading to a party or a job interview, going on a date or launching a business, the crazies will be on that bus – mark my words.

They might tell you that you’re too young, too old or too fat, that you’re not really that smart anyway or that people don’t like you very much. They might tell you that you’re not qualified enough or that because you had a terrible childhood, you’re basically broken. Essentially, you should stay home and stay still and pull your head in and forget all that driving the bus business.

The feeling will overwhelmingly be fear. But however it shows up, you need to know that these thoughts and feelings are the crazies and they will jump up and down and wave their arms and say anything to get you to stop the bus.

I know you want to throw them off and leave them on the side of the road, I really do. But sadly, no matter how hard you work to boot them out or shut them up, there willl always be one or two of them coming along for the ride.

Here’s what I tell my clients and what I want to tell you. You need to accept that the crazies are going to be on the bus. No, you didn’t invite them but if you stand around arguing with them, the bus isn’t going anywhere. So your best option is to tell them to buckle up, sit down and preferably keep the noise to a low roar.

They absolutely do not get to drive the bus.

They can jump up and down all they want, but they can’t hurt you as long as they keep their hands off the steering wheel.

Get on with driving your bus because you’re the only one in the driver’s seat and you have too many awesome places to go to let a bunch of noisy passengers stop you.