Love Inspired, Love Expressed
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.”
You got this by Binti Malu
We’re women bringing our dreams to life and that is epic! Simply being on this path is a gift unto itself but sometimes we can get snagged along the way. We second-guess or want miraculous signs from the heavens assuring us our ideas will work. We are distracted by thousands of little life things and get disconnected from our vision. We “don’t have time” though we still manage to binge watch an entire season of [insert delightful Netflix series here]. We don't want to fail but more than that, we don't want people to know we failed. We don’t want to endure the side-eyes, the judgment, the criticism, the condescending advice, the gossip…the rejection. So while our blogs, social media pages, or networking endeavors go neglected, we perpetually map out 3 year plans, endlessly update websites, and question whether ‘vision’ or ‘goals’ is a more compelling word for that last line of copy. In short, we pretty much ensure the results we’re trying to avoid.
This is actually normal. I really wish someone had told me that as it might have helped me live with a bit less shame and a bit more grace. As children, rejection could have earned us, at the very least, a frown from the person feeding us and, once upon a time in our biological history, it could have gotten us killed. We can be afraid and move forward anyway. Certainly, we can and should do the internal work to help us move through our fears sustainably; AND we can temper our fear with Love all along the way. It is that focus on Love that will take us on a path of confronting and moving through fears anyway.
This is a path of devotion and commitment. Commitment…eeek! I get it. Before you run, let me just share a few thoughts. First, I have learned commitment in service to Love - to desire, to joy, to something worthwhile and meaningful to us - is legit. It’s not as heavy in that light and shifts the way we feel about it. Second, I prefer to think of commitment not just as an isolated choice, but as a state of being. We become committed as we choose to act in little ways again and again. So don’t worry about making a grandiose declaration that seals your fate forever more. Just deepen in the doing. Finally, commitment is a serious antidote to that fear of rejection thing. Ever notice when you're committed to something, you make mistakes with it ALL THE TIME? You had a kid and while you've become fairly adept at keeping said kid alive, everything short of that is chaos. You bought a house and fight squirrels every year as they dig holes in your yard looking for nut stashes. You told your partner, in a moment of misdirected honesty, you didn't like a particular gift and we all know how that turned out. You're rejected, look like an idiot, and face failure daily…and you're right back at it tomorrow.
While I don’t want any of us to look like idiots as we bring our creations into the world (lol), Love-led commitment is magic and I so want magic for us. I want us to be energized by desire and joy to choose worthy goals and to produce impeccable work and all the good that can come from the full expression of our talents, abilities, gifts, and interests. I want us to be inspired and to learn in community. I want us to show up as creators in Love, as much for the mundane tasks as for the big wins because it matters. It matters. You matter.
Love in all things,
April Eileen
