Asking a Question!!

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?"

There are so many things that I want to accomplish, experience and embrace- but so many of them are not accomplished, not even attempted let alone experienced or embraced...Why is that- what keeps me..And you- (Oh yes- you are in on this too-) from taking that first step? Most of us have heard the phrase "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" ..So why don't we take the first step? What keeps us from taking that step? The step that has the potential to open the door to a new opportunity or experience. What causes us to limit ourselves by our past experiences - both good and bad- our successes and our failures?

Many men and women allow themselves to be virtually frozen in place and unable to move forward in their potential. They never allow themselves to answer the question "What would I attempt to do if I knew I could not fail?" They don't allow themselves the privilege of even asking themselves the question let alone pursuing the answer in their own heart and soul. The reasons for that are varied- but the underlying theme for many seem to include two key areas, fear and the feeling of unworthiness.

Fear - allows us to look only at what is not. It looks primarily at the failures of our past. It hears only the negative words that others that have spoken over us in the past. It causes us to focus on events in our lives when we have tried to step outside of our "box" and potentially "falling flat on our face" ...with the thought of any success seeming as far from us as east is from west! Fear does not look forward, fear causes us to remain where we are. Fear keeps us where we are. It has the ability to steal our joy- our future and our hope!

Feelings of Unworthiness - keep us from often even attempting a single step towards our future and our dreams! Unworthy feelings often give us an excuse to stay the same- we allow the voices within our hearts and minds to shout louder than our spirit and our souls.... We begin to wilt on the inside because our very spirit is stifled and without life. The water of hope for a brighter tomorrow is seemingly beyond our reach. We no longer allow ourselves the opportunity to dream, to create or to move beyond our past.

What if Michelangelo had never began to create and had given into his depression and past failures? ....What if Abraham Lincoln had given up after failure....(many times in fact!!) to become elected to political office? Would slavery in the United States still be practiced ? What if Beethoven had not released the music within him in spite of having very limited hearing? What if Maya Angelou had limited the future to her past of poverty? What about T J Rowling, author of the famed Harry Potter books... who experienced the rejection of her manuscript many times, and was told there was no way she would ever get it published?

What if....what if.... these great people were limited by only what they had heard, seen or experienced? If physical limitations , words of rejection , inner pain or private demons became the only voice they heard, what then? What of the limitations that King David faced in his seemingly futile battle against Goliath with those very small stones....or Noah who built the ark before the earth had ever experienced rain? The list of those who have faced their challenges head on is endless!

The question that now must be asked .....what about YOU (ok and me.... I am in on this one too!) .... what is within that lays dormant? Is there a song that is deep within that the world needs to hear- what of the leadership potential within you..is it limited by the words of a parent or spouse or "friend" who spoke the pain of rejection over you? Is there a book within you that longs to be written or a poem that must be penned? Is there a business that yearns to be started or a mountain that stands to yet be climbed.? What is the dream that is within you..... do not allow it to be silenced by your past..... today could be your day- begin to allow the pain that has shouted to you from the past become the catalyst to propel you into your tomorrow!!

"Life is like a coin, you can spend it any way you'd like ... but you can spend it only once!"

Fear and unworthiness will steal that tomorrow and only you can decide to take that first step and only you can move beyond your past. Only you.... your choice. You can use the moments(and all the baggage that those moments contain) of your yesterdays to propel you forward, or you can allow them to keep you where you are. You choose- STAY or GO ....which will it be? Dream or die on the inside?

Each individual- each person- each man, woman, teenager and child- regardless of background, economic worth, and social status has incredible and amazing value. The potential and the treasure that lies within each of us is without measure. We have been created in the image of The Almighty God- we are fearfully and wonderfully made!The value and treasure is there...and will remain there regardless of the choice you and I make to dig for that treasure. Buried treasure is still treasure. The worth is not less because it is buried- BUT the value increases greatly when it is brought to the surface and when it is submitted to process of being formed and shaped into a treasure of even greater worth and shared with the world!

What WOULD you attempt...if you would not fail?

What are the odds of success when you DO take that first step? That my friend, is unknown. What I can offer you though, is a guarantee that without the first step, there is virtually NO chance of walking into your future....if you DON'T take the step.... ZERO. No chance of falling if you don't take the step... but...also no chance of walking, running...or soaring above the mountains without that first step! So.... what is it going to be? Will you choose to stay where you are or are you ready to take that first step ... and the next and the next....and begin to write upon the page of YOUR tomorrow!

Embrace It-Experience It-Enjoy It...it's YOURS!!!