I haven’t posted in a while. But I thought that now as I lie in bed with thoughts whirring incessantly through my mind – as they do at close to 2 am on a Sunday morning – would be as good a time as any!
What’s on my mind? is a question you may be wondering. Lots of things, really. What to wear for church in a few hours. What I’m going to eat for breakfast. Oh…I just need to send a quick text to that person I’ve been meaning to text all day! I think I’ll wear my brown boots tomorrow, but will they go with the colours in my jumper I want to wear? How to get everything sorted and in perfect condition before heading out to Phoenix in less than two weeks, who to interview next for my MIE Stories of Success series – I have one written, which just needs editing and I need to make time to post it! I’m also wondering what to post this week.
And then I wonder whether I’m going through that perfectionist fallacy crisis again where nothing is ever good enough to be considered a worthy piece…
So I thought, just type.
And I think that goes for anything in life that’s worth doing. There’s time for thinking, and there’s time for doing. I’m sure you’ll find that in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Really, it says: ‘there is a time for everything under heaven.’ And it’s true. Yet, some of us are ‘thinkers’ and others of us still are ‘doers’. Whatever these titles mean, they mean something. Because we often identify ourselves and each other with these words and then lean on them as a crutch to avoid doing or to justify doing something. There always has to be a reason for some reason. It’s just the way life is. And that makes sense too… I know I’m rambling, but I’ll get to a point in a second (I hope)…
You wouldn’t act or think or feel without reason. Reason is purpose. And when you know your purpose, you know your destination. And when you have a destination, you have an idea of the journey or the route you need to take the first steps along in order to achieve your purpose. I call it a God-given purpose, because I believe in God and the fact that he orders our steps. But you may call it a purpose, a mission, a goal and I’m sure as you have ventured along your path, the universe has opened doors for you – or closed them as the case may be – and helped you along in the most unexpected of ways.
I don’t know why I’m writing this random blog post. Maybe just my way of saying ‘keep going’, ‘don’t give up’ and ‘believe in your dream’ to the hopefuls out there. This week I spoke with a number of people – entrepreneurs – who were excited about the prospect of starting their own business. They were overflowing with ideas; bursting at the seams with the newness and uniqueness and seeming beauty of it all. I didn’t ask the daunting questions that can come across as negative, pessimistic and at times fearfully realistic. Do you know it may be a challenge? Do you know you may suffer setbacks? Have you thought about the obstacles? Do you know what you stand to risk – financially, emotionally? Your reputation could be in tatters if this fails! How will you cope? But why would I ask such questions when I know that what you focus on expands. When you focus on worry and doubt, you breed more worry and doubt, with an additional helping of anxiety and sleepless nights. So why would I ask them to consider all these negative prospects and burst their bubble? Funny isn’t it? Yet we so often do the same with each other! Why do you and I ask our loved ones to ‘be realistic’ and ‘just quit’ and offer other negative, hurtful, doubting words and actions, heavy sighs and rolled eyes that all hopefully stem from a place of love, but illustrate anything but. Let people’s passions grow. Don’t kill dreams because of your fear. Love your loved ones enough to protect them with your support and catch them when they fall. Give them the chance to fall. But most importantly, give them the chance to fly.
“Come to the edge, He said.
They said: We are afraid.
Come to the edge, He said.
They came. He pushed them,
And they flew…”
Guillaume Apollinaire (Avant-garde French poet)
P.S. If you haven’t yet read this book, and you want to be encouraged along the road of your passion and purpose and ultimate victory, visit a library, order it on Amazon, pop down to Waterstones or your local bookstore, because you need to read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Here’s just one reason of many for why.
