Fear tends to argue both sides of the coin, leaving you absolutely no room to stand [breathe, move]. It tells you "Don't chase your dream at all." and "If you chase your dream, you have to do it all at once." These statements are lies.
As we stand with one foot on the road to "average", and the other foot on the road to "awesome", we have to "kill" those "fear tactics".
Just start. The starting line is the only line you [can] completely control. The start is the only moment you're the boss of. Don't worry about the finish. Along the way you will meet dozens of people who are going to impact your finish. You will have countless opportunities, experiences, and challenges that dot the map of awesome that you are following. There will be cliffs and rivers and jungles you can't begin to fathom. You will reach that mountaintop that is better than anything you have ever dreamed, and laugh at the idea that you thought you could plot out your own finish.
It's impossible to predict the finish. Part of the reason it's difficult is that the path often changes by the time you get to the end.
"Don't Plan Your Life Like I Used To Plan My Speeches"
Average is so popular because average is familiar. We all know how to do average. Most of the people on the planet are average. The road is well worn, the decisions are obvious, and the next steps are crystal clear. Average is predictable. When people are faced with the decision between awesome or average, most opt for familiar, or comfortable. We like the idea of an awesome adventure, but most of us default to trying to manicure the road to awesome so it's as safe and predictable as the road to average.
Awesome is a little dangerous. There may be dragons in the woods. There are foggy and cloudy mornings and nights. Sometimes you're not completely sure about your next step until you take it. Awesome is adventurous. The road to awesome is defined by surpises. It's a rambling dirt road with twists and turns that offer something new at every corner.
We want to plan that road to awesome. We want to talk about our visions, goals. We want to detail every step before we take them. We want to make sure there is no room for mistakes or failure. When we do that, we squeeze our lives and purposes too tightly and we eliminate any room for surprises. We don't have or make time for them. They do not fit into the plan. We scowl when people interrupt what we're doing at work, grumble when neighbors want to talk, and curse momentary distractions.
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Personal Notes:
I have lived with fear for all of my life. The average road is the one I have traveled, without deviation, because stepping away from the comfort zone is scary. I've subdued, and eventually locked away my dreams, because I didn't think or believe that I could do it. Eventually I came to the point where I couldn't breathe, move, function, because my self-imposed "comfort zone" became four walls closing in on me. My comfort zone is located on the road to average.
Yesterday's reading talked about waking up, years down the road, wondering where it all went...where did all the time and opportunities go? what happens when you run out of excuses to remain average? what happens when the comfort zone is a private and self-imposed, prison? You don't realize it as it is happening, but the answer all comes down to this: the comfort zone becomes a private and self-imposed prison.
Fear has lied to me, and caused me to believe that I should not pursue my dreams. Fear fed me with lies that I was too old, it was too late to start, and that I am not good enough. Fear has kept me locked up in my own self-imposed prison, under the initial disguise of "easy" and "comfortable". Fear has caused me to hide "me" for entirely too long!!!
I also learned in these first 35 pages of this book, that being in the 40's is NOT the end of the world. It doesn't have to be too late. I can still head toward the road to awesome. I may still be like a "lighthouse" that warns of "crashes" that have happened before, but I can learn from my mistakes and still have my opportunities, my chances, and my "harvest".
I don't know how to be awesome. This is something that I am going to have to learn how to be. I need to re-discover the "me" that has become buried physically, emotionally and mentally. I need to surround myself in people who can, with their presence, strengthen the person who is hiding underneath all of the self-imposed confinement.
Who is the "me" who has been locked-up?
I'm going to post who I think this "me" is, and in a couple weeks, months, years, I want to check back and see who I thought I was, and who I have become.
Defining "Me" - likes to laugh, enjoys companionship and time with friends. "Me" enjoys having fun and getting out and doing things. "Me" likes to be appreciated and treated with respect.
Well you have hone farther then you dared by going to school. You took that start and owned it like a boss. Way to go.
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