Our boys spent this last week at a cabin with their grandparents (Wade’s parents) and aunts and cousins. They fished and hiked and had a great time riding go-karts, playing putt-putt golf and phase 10, and making s’mores after building a campfire . . . I am doing their laundry right now and my laundry room smells like a fire pit exploded in it. Franklin caught the first fish, the largest fish and the most fish. Quite the little (big) angler. Wade’s sister, April, was telling us about how one of her sons, Hunter, wasn’t quite tall enough, at 4 feet and 5 inches, to drive his own go-kart so he had to ride with one of the other kids. Of course, he was very disappointed. I remembered that my parents would take me and Carly, my sister, to Elitch Gardens (Six Flags) in Denver every summer after our two week vacation in June. We always had so much fun. But I do remember being too short for some of the rides. My dad would always tell me, “Next year, sister,” as he put his arm around my shoulders to guide me to the next attraction. And year after year, I was too short for some. I always swore in my mind that they were moving the height requirements up. When I heard about Wade’s nephew not getting to drive the go-kart himself, I had a few thoughts come to mind. When we are young, we dream BIG. We play all out. We aren’t afraid of much of anything. We are bulletproof. And we are truly disappointed when things don’t turn out the way we would like them to. What happens? When do we change? Why do we start to shrink ourselves and our dreams and ambitions?
I don’t know that I have a “big” personality, but I wouldn’t say it’s small. I guess that makes me average, huh? I know I have been in situations where I felt I have had to be “less me” because I don’t want to stand out or intimidate anyone. I also know that along those same lines I spend a great deal of time talking myself out of things. And why? Sometimes it’s because it’s scary. Sometimes I know it’s going to be difficult. Sometimes I know it’s going to require much more sacrifice and discipline than I want to employ. Sometimes it’s going to cost something . . . often money. Other times, I have been finding out recently, I am afraid of just the opposite of those things. I haven’t been asking, “What if it goes wrong?” or, “What if it doesn’t work?” No. I have been afraid of what might happen if it DOES go right or what might happen if it DOES work. What if it turns into greatness? Now, I am not claiming that I am great at anything by any means. But, what happens if I do something, like actually put my hand to it and invest my heart and time into it, and it goes remarkably well? Great, even? What if success follows the initial fear, discipline, difficulty or cost. Attention. That’s what! As much as I may talk (FYI: it’s a LOT) I don’t really like too much attention. I love being in small groups of friends or family. I dislike being in large rooms full of people. I think that I have grown very used to shrinking myself to fit into whatever box I am expected to be in. I think a lot of us do the same thing. And what’s more than that, I feel like we can and will use any excuse to justify talking ourselves out of whatever it is we are considering doing and just maintain the status quo.
I think that greatness and success live outside the box, outside ourselves, outside the norm. Like I shared a few weeks back, it’s really ok to chase your dreams. It’s completely ok to want better and more for yourself. I know when I started my journey to better health, I knew that I wanted better, but it WAS going to cost me money, and it WAS going to require sacrifice and discipline and it WAS going to be difficult. I almost had myself convinced that I didn’t want to do it because I might fail. I might not be able to lose any amount of weight, let alone make it to huge success or greatness with it. But I also knew I have been afraid of failure more often than not in my life and consequently I have left a lot of opportunity and a lot of chances on the table. I have walked away from whatever blessings those things may have brought to me and whatever blessings I may have been able to bring to others. So, I made the conscious decision to do it anyway; to start down a new path to health for myself. And I am so glad that I did. I have had success with it. And I have had plenty of attention from it. And while that attention has been uncomfortable for me, it is getting a lot easier. Out of that attention and success have come more blessings than I can ever put down on paper. I have had the opportunity to see many, many people start on their own journey of weight loss and better health and be a part of that with them; as much as you CAN be a part of something that someone has to walk alone. I have been blessed by each of them in so many ways. I am glad I said, “Yes,” to myself and my health. I put those things above the monetary cost, physical sacrifice and mental difficulty that I knew was ahead for me. But it has been so worth all of it!
I know you have dreams and goals and you probably want better for yourself. My advice? Go for it. When you arrive at the entrance of the ride you are trying to get on, if you find out you are still too small, just know that it’s all right. Give it time. You’ll grow. You will eventually be big enough to do what the other kids, the “bigger” kids, have been doing for a while. In the meantime, eat your veggies, create a game plan with the appropriate steps and goals, and set the groundwork for the growth that is about to happen. You have to make sure that your foundation is strong enough, wide enough and deep enough to take you to the heights at which you want to arrive. And don’t forget to have fun along the way. Be intentional about having the memory of the kid who couldn’t get onto the ride last fall because he was too small. Forget it, move on and let nature take its course. Have fun. Make sure you don’t stop living because you didn’t get to do one of the things you wanted to. Don’t shrink your dreams or your life to fit into anyone’s idea of what or who you are. Dare to live intentionally. Dare to be who you want to be. Dare to take a chance. You’ll grow and time will pass anyway. You might as well live on purpose.
#loveyourjourney #youreworthit #bettermewithNewYouCBD #Endo30 #itsuptoyou
Losing Lacy 