What a World…
Play it Safe, or Dare to Live Your Dreams.
I’m always asking others about the things that light them up. There is something about understanding the things we are called to do and then following that path toward a fulfilled life. It’s the thing that lights me up. I love hearing people talk about what excites them, and once I know, I’m always curious if they are doing that thing now.
I find very few people who say that they are actively doing the thing that lights them up. Some say they don’t know what that thing is, but others readily acknowledge it. They just don’t fully believe in their ability to do it well. They don’t have full confidence in their ability to leverage it in a way that could support their current lifestyle, much less the lifestyle they desire. In other words, they don’t know if they’re really that good at it or if doing it can make their money!
I often ask what’s keeping someone from doing the thing they love and are uniquely skilled at. Despite the varied responses, from needing to go back to school all the way to not having the time, I know what’s underneath it all. Most of us haven’t been taught to go after our dreams. We’ve been taught to “play it safe,” to find a job that pays us a decent salary with good benefits, not to take risks and bet on our own talents. Some of us don’t even know what we are gifted in, only what we’ve learned to do well. Sometimes we just land in a certain place that feels comfortable, and we make it our home.
It’s not that it’s easy to bring our dream into reality, but by fully embracing the journey rather than expecting to show up perfectly, you end up landing in an even better place than you could have imagined. What would come of those who, instead, followed an untraditional route and leveraged their own talents, skills, and abilities to do the things that they love, the things that light them up? What kind of world would we live in if this were more of a norm if people tapped into their passions and pushed past the fear of failure? If when trying something new, they decided that success was inevitable. That doing their thing could bring in exactly what they needed and more, not just monetarily but also in life fulfillment. What a world we would live in.
