Be Brave – Entertain The Uncomfortable And Shoot For The Stars

The Three C’s of Life:

Choices, Chances, Changes.

You must make a Choice to take a Chance or your life will never Change.

 – Zig Ziglar

They say that everything you have ever wanted is one step outside of your comfort zone.  If you are around my age, you may remember the day that the astronauts landed on the moon and took the first step onto the moons surface.  Everyone around the world that had access to a T.V. was watching.  No one said a word as they watched, holding their breath.  Then again, when the astronauts came back home and safely splashed into the water.  It was an amazing time, because something had happened, that couldn’t be believed.  They went to the moon, they walked on it and brought back space rocks.  They made it back safe and a boundary was forever broken that most of us believed wasn’t possible.  Sometimes I think that the one step outside your comfort zone is just like that first step onto the moons surface.  Because that first step in the direction of our dreams is soooo very hard to do.  It sometimes feels like we might not make it back alive, when we take that step.

You don’t get over the fear of doing something by not doing it.

 – Zero Dean

Stepping outside that circle begins with a vision.  Look at the stars colored into the lines.  Those are all of your dreams that you have been given to go out and bring into reality.  Each star is like the rest stop on a long road trip.  A safe place to stop and take a nap if you need it.  A place to refresh yourself as you get ready to get back on the freeway and travel to the next stop along your destination.  A place where they have a map that says, “you are here” and marks out places that you can go explore.  Some of them are located at landmarks, and some at scenic views.  You can meet people from other states.  You can talk to truck drivers who go from one side of the United States to the other, transporting everything that we have in our homes to the marketplace.  Step out onto to your first star.  Move from where you are, to where you need to be.

We must take adventures in order to know where we truly belong.

 – Unknown

Did you know that in order to write a single sentence, we need to have the ability to see the sentence in our minds?  That is how we start out when as a young child we start writing out sentences. Along the way, we do this by habit.  We begin with a vision.  Then we start building bridges along each step of the way.  We start coloring in the stars as far as we can reach.  And one day it happens, that in order to color in the next star, we have to take a step into the vision itself.  You will have to leave the place where you are in order to continue to give birth to the vision. It will mean that you feel lost, uncomfortable and awkward.  It will mean that you fail, not once or twice, but many times.  But once you get the hang of it, your life will change in the most amazing ways.

You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

 – Christopher Columbus

At some point we have to light our fire, our passion to overcome the fear of taking the step.  We have to want it more than we are afraid of it.  The greater the fear, the greater the growth.  If you have kids, you will have witnessed growth spurts.  I remember when my boys were little.  I always knew when a growth spurt was coming because they consumed food like they were vacuum cleaners and they would sleep longer.  Then practically overnight, I had to buy new clothes and shoes because nothing fit.  There is discomfort when we grow at first because everything that fit us yesterday, doesn’t fit us today.  But when we give it a little time and space, we grow comfortable again with a new favorite pair of favorite jeans or shoes.  We can’t let fears rule over us and make us afraid to walk into our future selves.  That is where the joy and adventure are waiting for us.  The “Stars” are calling us, we just have to take the call.

The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.

 – Steven Pressfield

Courage is the realization that this fear of leaving the comfort zone is just a place marker.  It marks the place where you are about to do something that will shift your life into a totally new place.  Do you remember the first time that you moved?  If you were a kid, it meant a new neighborhood.  New friends.  New school.  Maybe the move was to go to college and you left your family behind to go to school in another state.  Or maybe your first move was out of state for a new job.   All very scary “new” things.  But kind of exciting too.   Because you didn’t have any idea who your new friends were going to be; who your new teachers would be; what your new home would look like.  You said goodbye to a lot of things, and at the same time you got to say hello to some new things.  The fears that we imagine are just there to let us know that something wonderful is coming our way.

If we’re growing, we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone.

 – John Maxwell

Outside of that circle is where life really happens.  It is where the magic is – that is why the stars are there to guide us.  It is where we get to create our own life.  We can decide and choose who and what we want to become.  Keep walking, maybe even running sometimes to the destiny that you have been given.  Hold to your vision and don’t let anyone or anything keep you from it.  Trust in the process, remember to breathe, and if you haven’t got uncomfortable, then you haven’t left your comfort zone.  Your fears can be pretty tricky, and they will make it seem like you stepped out of the circle and onto one of the stars.  But do a gut check – no butterflies, no giddiness, no feeling of “What Did I Just Do” and you better check to see where those toes really landed.

Shoot for the moon.  Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.

 – Les Brown

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