More afraid of not...

I was watching a movie over the holiday weekend and heard a phrase similar to this one and it struck me as something that I needed to explore more. I used to live with fear and being afraid of living for a very long time. It always appeared to me that if there was something good or bad that could happen, the bad seemed to be the one that should up more often. So what did I learn? That if I took chances, I usually lost. Seriously. So, I didn't take them. I became conditioned to play it safe. To not make waves. To do what was expected of me. To follow the rules already written for me. Here is where I am right now...I am more afraid of NOT following my heart than of not. It hurts more to sit and do nothing than to write these words, maybe thinking they might impress themselves on someone else and therefore, make a difference. Being scared has created a shell that I lived in to follow the norm and live under the radar. Now, I am out there...taking chances that may include some skinned up knees and some failings. But I will have the scars to prove that I tried. That I was there. That I stood for something. That I took chances despite the failings and I picked myself back up to go back for more. That I never gave up and kept fighting for what I loved and treasured most. Are you afraid? Why aren't you shaking so much in your boots that you KNOW that keeping still and staying silent is no longer for you. Let your heart breathe. Feel the pure joy that others can bring to you, if you let them. Open up and stay strong, even when you want to run. Be afraid of monotony and spice things up a bit with new knowledge and unknown travels yet to be discovered. Be afraid. I have been given a mission with no itinerary and no final destination. I do not know how I will get there, but will expand what I share with others so as to make this world better. I have to...it is what calls to me. I cannot ignore it and it becomes almost self-propelled with all of the force of an avalanche barreling down a snow covered mountainside. But it is not destructive; it is constructive. I am more afraid of doing nothing than I am of standing still...even if I am smack-dab right in the middle of that same mountainside.

You ARE a force to be reckoned with!

Do you know how powerful you are? We have all seen the videos of forces of nature - tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and avalanches. Why are we drawn to watch them? Because they are powerful and NOTHING stands in their way. Yes, these are destructive and we wish they would never happen, but they can teach us something. When does these forces stop? When they have run out of energy and cannot be self-reliant to move further. We are better. We are not destructive, but constructive. We build up rather than tear down. We are self-reliant beyong measure and if we run out of energy, we have someone next to us giving us more to use. I get frustrated when people do not see all that they can do - they settle. Maybe they don't feel like they are settling, but when I hear of unhappiness and dreams never pursued that is what I think. I have been told that when I am "doing my thing" that I have an energy that is contagious and I have seen people absorbing that and taking it all in. Especially those that are reaching for it (whatever "it" is) and not knowing how to get to it. We are powerful and can change the way people think all the time. Sometimes, it is the little things that mean the most - smiling at a stranger; holding the door for someone who might need help; or sending a card to someone you love, just because. Do you feel how mighty you are and what you can do with all of that "oomph"? You have to believe it first. No one can give you that one. When you feel like nothing can stop you and you are so giddy (yes,I said giddy) that you skip as you walk and hum songs in your head and you move. Use that! Yes, exactly that! My new favorite song is, "Move" by Mercy Me. It gets me going every morning since I heard it and then I know the world is in trouble - I AM a force to reckoned with and the world will never be the same. Even tomorrow will be different. Rock your world!