“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” ~Ayn Rand
A while ago my friend Matt and I were discussing the topic of commitment. I was sharing a situation where I felt that I needed to either be ‘all in’ or ‘all out!’ You see sitting on the fence for too long can become quite uncomfortable.
Matt started to tell me about a television show he watched where they asked a guy if he knew how to swim. The guy replied, “Sure, I’ve watched videos on the internet and practiced on the kitchen floor!”
He was quick to follow up with, “Can you even imagine someone thinking they could swim because they watched a video, rolled around on the floor, but never got in the water!”
It Gets Worse…
Matt says, “So are you in, or are you out, you need to commit one way or another. He then adds, “By the way do you remember when you uttered those same exact words to me a few months ago?”
It was at that moment I was reminded that one of the worst things about having a close friend is that they will remind you of things you told them when they were in a similar situation. One of the best things about having a close friend is that you can trust them to tell you the truth, even when it stings.
This one stung! and the reason it stung so much is that it was the absolute, 100%, organic truth!
So What’s The Point?
The point is:
- You can’t swim until you get in the water.
- You will not realize your dreams until you take the first step to act-u-a-l-i-z-e them.
- You’re not a leader just because you read a book on leadership or have the title.
- You’re not an expert on raising kids if you’ve never raised them!
- You will never experience love, if you’re not willing to open your heart, take a risk, and let it in, even though you may have been hurt before.
- You will never realize success if you are not willing to push yourself out of your comfort zone.
Unrealized Dreams
If you really want something, you have to be willing to take a leap of faith and jump into the deep end of the pool, even when you’re afraid.
Author, David Hawkins once wrote, “Greatness is the courage to overcome obstacles.” Meaning, you have to be willing to overcome any and every obstacle that gets in your way if you are ever going to realize your dreams.
A lot of people have dreams, very few people are willing to take the risk to experience them and so their dreams go unrealized for years, decades, and even lifetimes.
Why? Maybe they hold back out of fear that their dream will die if they attempt it but fail. You see sometimes, the idea of having a dream is better than never realizing your dream because you failed.
Is It Your Dream?
I’m sure you know someone who became a doctor, lawyer, plumber, etc. because their parents wanted them to. I remember a roommate of mine in college who was studying to be an optometrist. He hated optometry, but his father was an optometrist and his father’s father, etc. you get the picture.
One way to discover whether or not it is your dream and not someone else’s is to ask yourself this question, “If I do not realize this dream, will my life be incomplete?”
If you say, ‘yes’ then follow the path and don’t look back. However, if you say ‘no’ then let it go and move on until you find the one thing that would make your life incomplete, even if you disappoint others!
Realizing your dream, jumping into the deep end, facing your fears, believing in yourself when others don’t, putting your body of work into the marketplace, requires courage and a willingness to jump!
And sometimes the willingness to jump comes from leaning in so far…that you can’t go back!
Okay, it’s your move…
