How Flexible Are You?

by Ryan Biddulph

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5 years ago, it was 2:30 AM in Savusavu, Fiji when I got an email from my hosting provider.

I needed to delete a specific number of blog posts – over 1000 – or the host would pull the plug on my site permanently, deleting all files. The company already pulled my blog offline to grab my attention.

I faced a decision: delete the 1000 blog posts for the next few days to keep my old blog or trash the losing, depressing, worn out venture all together.

I trashed the blog. Blogging From Paradise was born.

But only because I was flexible.

Are You Flexible?

Life offers us opportunities to be flexible or rigid. Some people told me I was nuts to trash 5 year's worth of work thru my old blog. Rigid people desperately cling to the past because they have no flexibility and openness to spot a losing venture and to let it go.

I still loved blogging. Could I be flexible enough to keep blogging but in a different niche? Evidence of my flexibility is Blogging From Paradise. Things are flowing along smoothly for me. My openness made the difference, though.

Are you flexible or rigid? Can you see a different way of doing things? Or do you try to force your way, your will and your narrow-minded, fixed perspective on everything and everyone? Rigid people break. Flexible people go with the flow. Rigid people fail or see some worldly success with tons of struggle, striving and stress.

My wife and I observe palm trees sway to and fro freely, during monsoon season in Southeast Asia, weathering powerful gales gracefully. Meanwhile, Western, rigid species of trees snap and break like twigs during these storms.

People are no different.

Be Open

Nobody succeeds by seeing the world through a pinhole. Be open. See opportunities for growth. Exit your comfort zone. Nudge into fear. Releasing 3,400 blog posts, a blog and brand, along with 5 years of work, felt terrifying to me at first. Fear surged through my being. Plus I deeply feared the unknown future, before me.

I felt these fears, released the energies and moved forward from a flexible energy. The idea for Blogging From Paradise popped into my mind an hour after I released my old blog. Do you see how it works? Be flexible and open to release an old, worn out idea to make room for a new, fun, freeing and profitable idea to enter your mind.

Guard Against Being Rigid

Most people vibe a rigid, closed-minded perspective because they fear letting go and fear an uncertain future even more. But hugging these fears is necessary to transition from being rigid to being flexible.

I feared letting go my old blog but knew being flexible leads to happiness, greater worldly success and increased fulfillment. I was interviewed a few times for my old blog. I have been interviewed for Richard Branson's Virgin blog, Forbes, Fox News and Entrepreneur, for Blogging From Paradise. Guarding against being rigid, fixed and closed-minded preceded these neat features. I had to let go some of my old blogging bonds to make room for new, prospering, open-minded people to enter into my friend network.

Be flexible.

Get more out of life.

Help more people.

Enjoy the ride as you see, spot and seize new opportunities that only open-minded, nimble people see.