There Is No Perfect
…at least not here on earth. In the meantime, here on earth, imperfect earth, there are only two options (neither is perfection): reality and fantasy. The things you actually do enter reality and you benefit from them, even if they’re mediocre or imperfect. Some benefit is better than none. Small steps are better than standing still. But when you ignore, delay, procrastinate… nothing is real. Nothing becomes real.
The Myth of Failure
All the possibilities stay in the realm of fantasy, and you’re stuck there, a prisoner to all the things that might happen. The fantasy of failure and the fantasy of success are equally unproductive and equally unlikely as long as you sit.
But if you take small steps, tiny steps, make daily efforts toward success? Even when you mess up, you’re still bringing some measure of success into reality. And that’s when you start seeing failure as it is: a myth.
The only real failure is the failure to move, to try, to risk, to work.
Quit Setting Ho-Hum Goals
If your goals were such that you knew you could reach immediate and perfect success in them, they wouldn’t be very inspiring, would they?
Big goals inspire us to take on big challenges, face big fears, do more, be more than we knew we could. But you don’t get that sitting still. Sit still on anything and you’ll stay the same, while things around you slowly, surely deteriorate.
Something you’ll accomplish immediately and perfectly isn’t worthy of being called a goal. It’s an item on our to-do list. Do it and then find something bigger, scarier, riskier, more exciting, more rewarding for a real goal. “You must do the thing you think you cannot do,” said Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt.
You Have No Idea What You’re Capable Of
The truth is, you have no idea what you’re capable of and almost every one of us estimates far, far too low. We were made in the image of God! The dreams and goals we have – both the ones we cherish and the ones forced upon us by circumstances – are God’s way of waking us up to our own potential. It’s like His hand is on your shoulder, shaking you awake, saying, “Come on, this will be fun! You can do this! I wouldn’t ask you to if you couldn’t.”
And you can either jump up and follow Him and try and see yourself succeed, or you can clench your eyes shut, hide under the covers, and rot.
Your call.
“Oh, hmm, well, I guess I’ll take the rotting option. Yeah. That sounds peachy.”
Okay… have fun with that, really. Me? I’m getting out of bed. I’m awake, I’m interested, I’m ready. My motto: “Find something I can’t do. I DARE you.”
You Can’t… Unless You Want To
Are there things I can’t do? Sure! Lots of them. And I’ll find them, but for every one thing I find that I can’t, I’ll find a hundred that I can.
I’ve gotten a lot of “You can’t” messages in life. We all do, because the world is looking for the lowest common denominator. It’s a way of making every lazy, fearful person feel better about sticking their heads under a pillow instead of living. We measure ourselves by each other (even though that’s a silly thing to do).
You can listen to the messages of a society which has obviously and repeatedly proved its own lack of intelligence. If that’s where you go for your guide to life… well, you’ll have a socially acceptable, ho-hum-boring life. You won’t be a mover and a shaker, a trend-setter, a record-breaker. You won’t inspire or enlighten or challenge. You’ll be just another individual in the mass of individuals who want nothing more than to hide their individuality. Enjoy.
You might want to invest in a better mattress because you’ll be spending a lot of time in it.
Or.
Or. That’s the best two-letter word in the English language, don’t you think?
Or.
Or you can take all the “you-can’t” lines you’ve been given and throw them out the window.
“You can’t have a happy marriage.” (But I do!)
“You can’t have a baby at home.” (But I did, three of them, in fact.)
“You can’t survive on one income.” (But we are!)
“You can’t make it without health insurance.” (But here we are, healthy.)
“You can’t find time to write while you’re a Mom.”
“You can’t get out of debt.”
“You can’t be happy.”
“You can’t be faithful to your spouse.”
“You can’t find good friends.”
“You can’t accomplish big things without money.”
“You can’t own a business.”
“You can’t finish school.”
“You can’t make a decision.”
“You can’t succeed.”
“You can’t write a book.”
“You can’t change.”
“You can’t make money at the work you love.”
“You can’t, you can’t, you can’t…”.
What are the “you-can’ts” in your world? I have one final sentence for you, the only “you-can’t” worth using:
“You can’t tell me what to do.”
They’re Just Little Obstacles
Most of the reasons that “you can’t” do not actually touch the reason why you should. They’re not really reasons for failure. They’re just excuses for other people who are scared. They’re just little obstacles to your inevitable success. Step over them. Step around them. Build a bridge. Keep moving!
Refuse to be the lowest common denominator. Refuse to be anything but the full breadth of your potential.
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Image courtesy of
notsogoodphotography.