…I’d begun to lean too much, when I needed to leap, to learn how strong I was designed to be. The word “leap” had begun regularly creeping around in my brain, showing up in weird spaces between other thoughts. Fear was soaking up my initiative, leaving this typically proactive girl passive, flat, and disheartened...
What did 2018 hold for you? And the year before? I tell myself I spent the last two years writing. But I’m starting to see I’ve gained more than a manuscript. I grew in courage.
I spent the past two years writing, hammering out a manuscript and, like most writers, wondering, “Is it worth my time?” In retrospect, I’m sure it was, though it hasn’t yet been picked up for publishing. I see its pages as embers, glowing and sparking ready to burst into flame as they reach the readers who need them most. I poured into them my deep truths, ones that saved and transformed me; I honed them into a powerful tool and simple guidebook anyone can use. I believe in its potency to save time, effort, heartache, wasted life and misdirected passion. It’s a product of blood, sweat and tears that will encourage others.
The byproduct I didn’t see coming was courage.
What’s the life you were born to live? Most people I ask don’t know- but desperately want to know. My book is about discovering and living your true calling and identity. Why on earth would I attempt such a thing when so much on the subject has already been written? The obvious answer, you might say, is that I’m a Life Coach. True; but that’s not all:
I wrote it because my calling compelled me to. My calling, or my “Life Creed” as I see it, involves helping you uncover and daily live your calling in the simplest, most sustainable way possible. My gift to you is a streamlined, simpler approach to the daily life for which you were uniquely born.
If it’s so simple, why did it take two years to write? Three reasons, for starters:
- I have ADHD; my brain futzes a lot with fitting ideas into words. Not so much with pictures; maybe my next book will be illustrated- no words allowed.
- My calling means striking a certain balance between writing and other priorities, like family life and income. So those all-nighter writing marathons never entered the picture.
- I’m a sprinter. I avoid “distance runs” in life . Writing Your Life Creed was been my first marathon. Wrangling what I wanted to convey was like lassoing fog, so sprinting didn’t cut it.
If it was outside my comfort zone, why did I start this mammoth task? I’d no idea it would take so long! I thought I’d swim along well within my comfort zone for, say, six months; a year tops. But something else, something beyond the desire to encourage others, kept me moving, determined to finish. Apparently I needed to gain from the journey.
It seems did it to gain courage.
Yep. It wasn’t courage but my lack of courage that propelled me to and through this marathon. I needed to develop fearlessness, become brave enough to propel myself forward past the outer edges of comfort, for the next phase of life. To be ready for what God has in mind for me, I’d have to push myself, charge against my own resistance, stretch and challenge everything within, and stop relying on His propulsion.
I was leaning too much when I needed to leap, to learn the strengths I was born with. Not everyone has this to learn; in fact, most of my peers seem better able to leap, less content to lean as much than I. The word “leap” started creeping around in my brain, showing up in weird spaces between other thoughts. Fear was soaking up my initiative, leaving this typically proactive girl passive, flat, and disheartened. It was time for me to learn to leap and stay aloft without the familiar supports that were, in fact, beginning to weaken me. I wrote Your Life Creed: to live my Creed and show others how easily it can be done. And, thankfully, God graced me with more courage through the task.
Take a few minutes to consider the fine line between these, and which reflects you today:
– leaning on God when He wants us to trust Him
-leaning too much on our own capability and leaping prematurely
-leaping when we’re equipped for the leap
“…we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed but of those
who believe and are saved.” Hebrews 10:39
Let me know your thoughts on this subject! Please take a moment to comment on the post; I’d love to hear from you. – Laurie
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