What do you do when you feel called to do something, when something is burning in your heart, and you work like crazy…and then it isn’t working? At least the way you think it should? What do you do when you’re weary and discouraged, and begin to question yourself? What do you do?
Do you press harder? Voice your doubts? Change something? Quit?
What can an ancient story about a widow and some oil teach us today? My mom used to read a volume of bible stories at bedtime. One has stuck in my mind ever since.
It was a story about a mother and some olive oil.
You’re too big for your britches! Have you heard that before (when you didn’t need to lose weight)? Perhaps your mother said it. Or a friend in school.
What do people mean when they say that?
We love a home run, don’t we? The big guy gets up to the plate, swings away, and CRACK! The bat hits the ball right in the sweet spot, and the ball goes flying over the fence. The crowd jumps to its feet and roars. The batter saunters around the bases, sometimes waving his hat in the air to acknowledge the rousing applause.
A lot of people think that the rest of the game is boring. They wait for the home runs. They’re powerful. Flashy. Exciting.
What's a moment worth? How do you measure a moment? If you're a gazillionaire making $1 billion a year, a minute is worth about $190,000. If you're like the rest of us, not that much in terms of dollars. What if we use a different lens? See the value in its ability to change our life, protect us from danger, take our breath away? What about the moments that change our life's course, remind us of who we are, or even change history?
What are those moments worth?
Relationships add beauty to our lives. They can be rich and bring incredible joy. But they aren’t always smooth sailing. People ignore us. Ridicule or criticize.
The voice in our head joins the chorus and screams, “I’m not enough.”
Michael Port’s words have been ringing in my ears ever since I talked to him in Episode 035. “Connection takes a certain amount of risk. When we attempt to open ourselves up, we run the risk of rejection. So what do we do? Play it safe. Distance ourselves.
Play it cool.”
I recently asked you to answer a few questions about who you are, what you love, and what challenges you face. You candidly shared your thoughts, feelings, and feedback. Not only did you share yourself, you also told me how I can best serve you.
There are several statistics that you may find interesting. But let's start with what's most important: who you are.
What were you afraid of when you were a kid? Monsters in the closet? Aliens? Ghosts? The dark? How real were those fears? How real did they feel to you? If you were like me, they felt VERY real.
Even though they couldn’t possibly happen.
Once upon a time there was a miller who had a beautiful daughter. He wanted to make himself appear important, so he bragged to the king that his daughter could spin straw into gold. Of course the king wanted more gold, so he locked the beautiful daughter up and demanded she produce the gold.
The daughter had no idea how to spin straw into gold. She sat at the spinning wheel frightened and sobbing.
