Almost no one ever dies trying. If you do, someone will make a movie about you. We love that story. The story we never hear is the one about the person who never tried. The reason? There’s nothing to tell.
I don’t mean to be cavalier. I realize many have given their life in pursuit of good and in the defense of others like myself. But just like our first reaction when someone has an idea is to try to find something wrong with it, when confronted with a big challenge that our heart tells us is worthy we are quick to imagine how treacherous that road will be. And sometimes it is. But most of the time it isn’t. It just feels that way. In advance, even. Seth Godin says fear is experiencing failure in advance. He’s right.
It’s a new year. Like last year it will have 52 weeks. You and I both felt the calling to start something, create something, rethink something last year. We felt this calling about more than one thing. So what did we do about it? How much of our energy given to it built up the idea, infused it with courage? How much was spent talking ourselves out of it? Putting it off just a bit longer?
It’s likely no movie will be made about us. That’s not the point.
Earl Nightingale said, “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.”
I think you could exchange other words for ‘time’. What if it said pain? Raising a dream is painful at times. But you’re going to experience pain anyway whether you pursue your scheme or not. Perhaps that pain is greater. Giving your fragile seedling protection is going to leave you with scars. But you’re going to get scarred anyway. There will be disappointment along the way in becoming who you believe you can be. But you’re going to be disappointed over and again anyway so why not be disappointed doing something that brings life to your life. And you and I both know that the pain and the scars and the disappointment are temporal. We anticipate them to be omnipotent. They aren’t.
You’re not going to die trying.
Perhaps the piece of you that wants to silence your gift will.
