In business, in organizations, we all have goals and projects we’re working on- for instance, I have a plan in place to double my business by next October. And by a plan, I mean I have a marketing plan (email newsletter, mailings, public speaking, workshops, all on a schedule for the coming year), a production plan (writing a workbook, recording my workshop, and producing it for sale), and a financial plan… a financial plan?

I got caught in a blind spot. In pursuing this plan to double my business, and in supporting my wife as she heads back to massage school for her national certificate this year, and as we take on the expenses of owning and improving a home we just bought in March, something became obvious. The fact is, that although my business is profitable, meaning it’s paying it’s expenses, and then some, it’s not paying everything that will need to be paid for this coming year… yet.

Ahh! The terrible “yet” of the rainy wastelands of business. My coach/healer reminded me that where there is fear, there is hope. That may sound like a good thing, but both fear and hope live in fantasy land. Meaning, if you live hoping that something is going to happen that will take care of everything, then you are going to be vulnerable to fear. If you are hoping for something, and depending on that hoping, even with a plan in place, that means you are riding a very thin edge, and if anything goes wrong at all, fear comes gushing in, freaking you out, paralyzing you, and potentially causing you to act to sabotage your best-laid plans. (Note: When I say “you,” I mean “me,” right?) Sound familiar?

The truth is, my plans are working- I am seeing results, and business is increasing. AND my business is not supporting everything that needs to happen. No “yet.” This is the truth of the moment. Is this normal? Yes, it is normal- there is nothing wrong with my business or my plan, or even with any of my expenses.

However, once we turn away from hope and fear, towards the truth, we can began to feel a spaciousness in our beings, and begin to find other solutions.

For me, I know have a relatively simple goal of finding some capital to make up the fairly slim gap between operating costs and profitability, while my plan takes effect. In Portland, it’s raining, and will be for some months. Is something wrong? No, it means get a raincoat, buy rain gutter extenders that keep the water away from the foundation, and keep moving. This is not the time to “hope” for sunshine.

The miracle is, that despite all stories to the contrary, the sun does show itself during the winter in Portland, but I can’t plan on it for any particular day. But I can enjoy it when it comes, and I can enjoy my life, and not have to worry about the foundations of the house, when it doesn’t.

Where are you feeling cramped in hope or in fear in your projects? Let yourself feel the truth of the cramped feeling in your body, take a breath and repeat whatever you use for the Remembrance, which is the practice of repeating the name of the divine in your heart, or whatever calls in the highest light and truth for you, and let yourself not know the answer. Let yourself be surprised by what might come in.

My experience with this practice is that more spaciousness comes in, and then solutions come to me that I had never seen before. The key is, once the spaciousness comes in, to ground that spaciousness in spacious solutions. For us, a practical plan to find capital, and some fine-tuning around our expenses, is giving the spaciousness a solid place to live. Knowing we have a practical plan gives a place for my heart to turn, and leaves behind hope and fear.

Try it, you’ll like it. If you feel like you are caught in the hope/fear cycle, and would like out, give a call, and let’s look at the truth of your business, and find some practical solutions for spaciousness to come to ground.