Well, here we are at the crucial part and I can tell you that it is not always the easiest part. That is my experience, and stats will show, much the same for a good many others as well. You have to stay in it for the long haul. Much like the labour in childbirth, your creation takes stretching and time to be born. Keep your eyes on the prize!
I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.
Frederick Douglass
What makes us not take action? Well, there are a zillion reasons – let’s look at a few common ones.
FEAR – also known as…. False Evidence Appearing Real. Most fears are illusions and they will suck your spirit dry if you let them. Can you see the fear swirling around here?……
Comparing & Discounting – No, I’m not talking about a shopping trip to K-mart here. I’m talking about learning something from a master teacher and creating something that is nowhere near the caliber of their work…. then not getting it out there because it is discounted in your mind as not good enough. It is good enough because it helps you to take the next step. Even Michaelangelo didn’t start out as the great Michaelangelo!
Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
Edmund Burke
Fog – it’s hard to see through the fog, isn’t it? Have you ever driven in thick fog? No fun. The remedy for fog is usually the sun – (light). When there is little clarity/foginess, it is pretty tough to see where you’re going unless things are made clearer by illuminating the way. It doesn’t have to be the entire road either. Jack Canfield once used an excellent analogy. He mentioned that when we take a trip, we cannot see all the way to the destination. Rather, we see far enough ahead to where our headlights shine and that is good enough. Taking a step, even though the path is not completely clear, is better than taking no step at all. We are also given one day at a time to live – how would it feel to live our entire lifetime all at once? No thanks! —-> Baby steps.
To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
Elbert Hubbard
Still Not Entitled? – We are herding creatures and don’t like to stray too far from the pack. We may also have received messages as children to conform with certain views or stay quiet. Children are seen but not heard (herd). This mindless approach is an assault on their identity/beingness, and is very devastating. It can be difficult to re-train oneself, to let go of the old programming but, in the long run, it is imperative and critical to life. We all have a voice – it is infinitely unique and needed in the world – so just say what you need to say. There will always be some negative feedback – that’s okay, keep going anyway.
* Work serves a purpose and when we come to see that the work, your work, is needed in the world, it becomes clear that the good you want to put out there can make a difference – even to one person.
I believe we are given a dream, a vision, for a purpose…. our purpose. Sometimes, it is a matter of timing, sometimes fear, but better to have spent that energy doing something toward it than to have spent it anxiously wondering what it would have been like to…………..
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What fears have you stumbled over, but overcame? What fears are blocking you now?.
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I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
Edward Everett Hale
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