Are you living life in the shallow end of the pool?

Monika Hardy puts it this way: Notice, dream, connect, do.

 

We fail to notice because dreaming implies that we have to take a risk to realize our dream.

 

We fail to connect because we might get rejected.

 

And we fail to do because we haven’t noticed, we haven’t dreamed, and we haven’t connected.

 

Take and minute, reread and process that.

 

That’s just a snippet from one of the four books I’m reading right now, WHAT TO DO WHEN IT’S YOUR TURN (and it’s always your turn) by Seth Godwin. It’s a thought-provoking –make your mind kind-of-whirl read.   A friend and encourager mailed it to me this week along with a note that ended, “It’s your turn! Go do it!”

 

A timely push.

 

With the first week of the New Year behind us it would be easy to change from our gym clothes back in to our yoga pants. (Speaking hypothetically of course, because I never changed into my gyms clothes)(Confession is good for the soul)

 

To settle back in to old ways verses pushing through into the new, uncharted waters.

 

Uncharted waters are somewhat intimidating, yes?

 

Here’s the thing.

 

We can’t keep doing what we’ve always done and expect different results.

 

I can’t keep saying I’m going to write more; I’ve got to start writing more.

 

Knowing when I write it I will have to write and rewrite also knowing that I cannot rewrite until I have written.

 

It’s like cleaning house. I can look at the skankiness of our floors and fret over the various dung samples and wish with all of my might for fairy-like farm life minus dung flakes but instead know that until I actually grab a broom and a dustpan or the vacuum daily dung flakes will remain.

 

What are you doing or not doing that you know you should be?  Are you stuck?

I don’t want to live my life in the shallow end of the pool.

Do you my friend?

 

I’ve been camped out over the last couple of weeks on exactly what it is that scares us and keeps so many people in the shallow end of the pool…

 

I’ve talked with countless women and observed many men who are wading ankle-deep through life.

 

Why?

 

Why are we afraid to dream?

 

Why do we hush the crazy things we think of pursuing or creating?

 

When I ask the question, because I love to ask this question,

 

“If you could do anything, become anything or accomplish anything without fail–what would it be?”

 

You can learn a lot about a person and or where they are in life by the response of this one question.

 

I’ve been told more times than not, “I’m scared.”

 

It’s no surprise. The news, marketers and media masters want us to be afraid.

 

Guess what else?

 

God knew we were all going to be a bunch of scared-y cats which is exactly why He gave us 365 “fear nots” in Scripture. One for each day.

 

Let’s lay that one to rest.

 

We’ve all been scared at some point but it’s time to “underline and move on.”

 

“Underline and move on,” is a quote I used years ago while teaching children to write.

 

When my students came to a word while writing they did not know how to spell I would encourage them to: sound it out, write the letters for the sounds you hear, underline and move on.

 

This practice kept them moving even when they were unsure.

 

I don’t know who first said, “The person with the most fails wins.”

 

But I agree.

 

Author, Emily P. Freeman said something at She Speaks this summer that has stuck with me.

 

She was addressing a room full of wanna-be-authors. Many, mostly all of us full of doubt and fear that we will ever be or become that which we hope to become, when she said,

 

“Everybody that chases a crazy idea won’t end up at an award show but everyone at an award show started with a crazy idea.”

 

Which brings me back to where we started: Notice, dream, connect, do.

 

• Today let’s take notice-STOP glorifying busy and leave ourselves room to dream BIG crazy DREAMS.

 

• Let’s make time to connect with those around us who need to be reminded-this matters.  This crazy-one-shot life matters. ALL OF IT. No matter how many things you have tried and failed. Try again.  No matter how many time we have fallen or derailed. Know there is grace upon grace upon grace….

 

• And lastly, all you who CREATE, DREAM, and ARE TIRED OF LIVING LIFE IN THE SHALLOW END OF THE POOL——-

 

This is me pushing you.

 

ASK GOD to make you BRAVE and COURAGEOUS

 

It’s time to start living out His purpose and plan for your life.

 

Ask God to lead you OUT OF THE SHALLOW END OF THE POOL.

 

love you,

PS~Let me know in the comment section how I can pray for you my friends because we weren’t meant to do life alone

PSS- I love this song..it pushes me and stirs the very core of my soul..give it a listen