"I consider Gay and Kathlyn to be my teachers." -John Bradshaw
Closing the Gap
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I appreciate so many things I’ve learned from living with Gay. One skill that pops up repeatedly is what we call closing the gap. What is that, you may be asking, and what’s in it for me? Well, read on.
When I met Gay I was a bit (ahem) of a packrat, MUCH improved from the overflowing closets of my mother, but still… I created stacks of magazines with pages turned down so I could go through them later and really decide if I wanted to order, file or somehow act. My desk also contained stacks of things to be done, later. Here’s how Gay prevents stack build up. He’s reading along in a magazine or on the web and sees something interesting. Right then, no kidding, he picks up the phone or emails or tears out the offer and finds a stamp. And then it’s done. He’s closed the gap between intention and action and is ready for the next moment free of debris.
And it’s not just stuff. Gay closes the gap with communications, responses to emails, and phone calls. When I first witnessed this I was dumbfounded. It had never occurred to me that I could live life with such speed and presence. I was just used to the progression of considering, reconsidering, then maybe acting (but more often simply creating incompletions that prevented free motion forward).
I’ve been practicing. If you decide to close the gap, here’s what you can look forward to creating: open space (literally and internally), momentum, more creativity, more free time. In our seminars now when someone brings up an important communication they haven’t made, one of our advanced students will hand them a phone.
You aren’t immortal, really. But you are here right now and can act fully in this moment. What gap is waiting to be closed in your relationships or on your desk?
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