I often have visions of grandeur. Visions of things that are beyond my ability to do and knowledge to pull off, but where I accomplish them and have immense satisfaction that I have touched lives. Lots of lives. I think "I could do that" or "I've thought that before" or "Heck, I've said that before." But reality sets in and I realize my limits and step back into what I've always done with only very small achievements here and there.
Why do I do that? What keeps me from doing it anyway? Why is my follow-through horrible? One word... fear. Not so much crippling fear, but fear of the what if's. And you know what, I'm tired of living like that. I want to put feet to my ideas.
We watched the movie "We Bought A Zoo" the other day and one line captured exactly what I am walking toward...
"Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage, just literally 20 seconds of just embarrassing bravery and I promise you something great will come of it."And so that is how I want to move forward this year. This 2013 will be the year I make concerted efforts to be insanely courageous about my ideas for at least a minimum of 20 seconds. And if after putting it out there for 20 seconds it doesn't seem like it's the best thing, then maybe I'll shelve it for awhile and revisit it later.
So here goes nothing...
- I want to write a book for little children and illustrate it
- I want to write a chapter book for elementary age children
- I want to look into developing an after-school creative society for Middle School & High School students that doesn't focus on only inner city kids, but those in the burbs who are just as important, but just as left behind by their parents as the others
- I want to paint a huge mural on my daughter's bedroom wall
- I want to paint our shutters and front door an entirely new color
- I want to draw up plans for and implement a home garden
That's just to jot down a few. Some of you may ask yourself why I would need to have courage to do or attempt those things. I needed courage just to type them. I've spoken them into reality and they are dreams no longer. And somehow, just typing them out makes them seem a little more achievable. Instead of wishing I could do them, now I have a place to start. Granted, painting my shutters a different color isn't going to touch lives, but I've feared doing it because what if I hate the color after I'm done, then the neighbors will see me repainting. Well, fry the neighbors and pick a paint color.
Insane courage.
