Han Solo Did it. Can You? (In honor of Star Wars Day)

Do you know what a parsec is? It isn’t a unit of time. A is a unit of distance.

So, when Han boasted that he made the Kessel run in 12 parsecs, he wasn’t just saying he did it fast, but that he found a shorter route. And in the life of a smuggler, shorter routes are gold. Saving time, conserving fuel, and depending on where the route takes you, keeping you out of the hands of the Empire.

Here in the Milky Way, we assume that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Maybe. Maybe not.

What if that line takes you to a place where you have to fight and kick and scream for every inch? Is it still the shortest route if it saps every last bit of your energy and peace? 

Hidden in Han’s not-so-humble brag is an invitation to explore something deep in ourselves. What if the shortest route isn’t a straight line between two fixed points. What if, instead, we could make a quantum leap?

Incremental growth is nice, and admirable, but it can also be frustrating, and take a LONG time. Exponential growth can be scary, and done wrong, it can set up a house of cards just waiting for the right breeze to blow it down.

True transformation in your being creates a quantum shift in perspective. Sometimes we see a shorter path where before there was none, just like Han did.

Other times, we realize we’re already there; the answer right in front of us all along.

But the real beauty of true transformation is that you can never go back. You can not unsee your new reality. One of the reasons that people stay stuck in patterns of struggle, kicking and screaming for every inch of progress is because it’s scary to think that you could change something in yourself that would change everything in your life, and you could never go back to the way things were.

Even if it’s something we say we want, the unintended consequences of that transformation might not be. And you'll never really know until you're there. 

This is why those exploring their inner world are as brave as those hopping in a tin can and blasting off for the stars. Because you never really know what you’re going to find in there that will change your life forever.

The real work isn’t for the feint of heart. It’s for the courageous heroes who know that if we change ourselves, we change our world. And done right, that brings us all closer together.

May the force be with you. Always. 

*Super Star Wars Geek Mode Off*

Peace, 

The Mystic Next Door

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