Ever have something show up, right in front of you, over and over (and over) again?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve started to write about gratitude several times and then, in the creative pauses, found myself reading, hearing or being given books around this message instead.  Instead of ignoring it, I am listening and passing it along to you.

Those floating in the river will recognize it.
Those who don’t, I invite you in.
We have spare life jackets.

From the Elders of the Hopi Nation
Oraibi, Arizona

To my fellow swimmers:

There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift,
that there are those who will be afraid,
who will try to hold on to the shore.
They are being torn apart and will suffer greatly.

Know that the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore,
push off into the middle of the river,
and keep our heads above water.

And I say see who is there with you and celebrate.
At this time in history we are to take nothing personally,
least of all ourselves, for the moment we do,
our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over.
Gather yourselves.
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
For we are the ones we have been waiting for.

In searching for why God kept sending me this message over the weeks prior to Thanksgiving, I realize that the grace and truth in these words sum up how life has felt over the past few years. Change has been deep and I have walked through much of it holding faith by one hand and fear by the other.

Yet, when I let go of the shore and see the beautiful souls floating around me, I find myself releasing my grip on fear and being

Held by love,
Propelled by excitement,
Energized by meaning,
Surrounded by brilliance, and
Filled with a huge helping of gratitude.

Thank you!

In Truth & With Love,

 photo credit:  stereohype

#Trust30 is an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself.  There are 30 days of prompts inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance.   I am only posting my favorite of the week right now. There's nothing saying that I won't circle back and blog about a few more after the challenge is over.  If you want to read all of the prompts, click here.

Prompt:  Fear by Lachlan Cotter

These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Is fear holding you back from living your fullest life and being truly self expressed?

A little over two years ago, I walked through fear and left my job, the only industry within which I had experience, a good salary with bonus, 401K options, paid vacations and large chunk of my ego.  That fear did not stop me from taking sizable action steps to leading my fullest life.

However, I still work through a layer of fear every time I uncover and then express a bit more of my true self.

So, "No!"  It is not stopping me.  It does leave me frozen in my tracks quite often.  But never permanently.

Put yourself in the shoes of the you who’s already lived your dream and write out the answers to the following: Is the insecurity you’re defending worth the dream you’ll never realize? or the love you’ll never venture? or the joy you’ll never feel?

Of course not!

On the other hand, dissolving the belief systems that caused the insecurity are part of the discovery process that leads to full self expression.  Grace and love are felt when I realize that defending my true soulful actions is not necessary.  Joy is even more joyous in contrast to the pain of feeling insecure in who I really am.

Will the blunder matter in 10 years? Or 10 weeks? Or 10 days? Or 10 minutes?

The blunder, itself, will not matter.

What I make the blunder mean absolutely matters.

When I define myself based on the mistake, I limit my ability to move forward because I'm swimming in a story of failure and end up spending time to rebuild my confidence.  That's wasted energy that will not matter down the road.

When I allow the "miss" to guide progress, then the experience of it really might impact the future.  If I didn't make the blunder, I would not have found what did not work.  I would not have learned.  I would not have moved past that point.

Can you be happy being anything less than who you really are?

I can be comfortable, sheltered, employed, surrounded by others, busy, respected by peers and good at what I do.  I've had all that and not been happy.

Which reminds me of a conversation with someone I love dearly the other day.  After I posted something on Facebook, he suggested that most of my friends probably thought I had fallen off the deep end.

My initial response was "I don't care."

Truthfully, though, I cared in that moment.  It stung.  It was a reactionary response and a quick way to mask my insecurity.  There was fear of not being accepted for the "me" that I'm discovering after many, many years of conforming to what I perceived to be the acceptable societal standards.

Then my husband (I love that man!) asked a brilliant question.  Paraphrased, it went something like:  "Isn't it more fun in the deep end?"

Why, yes, as a matter of fact, it is.

Now Do. The Thing. You Fear.

In Truth & With Love,

The only rule for menu #5 on the Joy Diet is that it has to scare the pants off of you.  Or involve escape of some sort from the status quo.

Any tiny step will do.  As long as it includes walking up to fear, staring it in the eyeballs and saying hello.

Why in the world would you want to do that on purpose?

To break free from "comfortable" and make your dreams come true.

If you’ve been following this blog series on The Joy Diet, you have uncovered a heart’s desire and been noodling on some creative ideas about how to reach it.   Taking a risk and putting those ideas into action often comes coupled with the fear.  It’s where the rubber meets the road and the action toward your desire requires a leap of faith.  A leap of faith that might have already been met with stall tactics, stunted by fear and stuffed down with cookies.

For some people, allowing the feeling of fear to settle in their body is the first tiny step. Allowing any feeling to settle, for that matter, could be a starting point.

Let’s use the desire to lose weight permanently as an example.  If you gained weight due to emotional eating tendencies, my guess is that the idea of not eating to immediately calm a powerful emotion (like fear) can be just as scary as jumping out of a plane with an untested parachute.

If this is the case, allowing yourself to FEEL FEAR for a few minutes without eating can change your life.

Other tiny steps could include contacting someone you admire in your desired field if you want to change careers.

If you don’t want to go to a social engagement, say no.  Even if social pressure says you should.

If you do, say yes.  Even if you’re shy.

And, by all means, attend your next high school or college reunion.

I stepped twenty years back in time to my Rhodes College days this past weekend.  I relived memories that had been suppressed, faced friends who know way too much about my past and felt every insecure emotion well up as if I were 18 again.  All without the “I’m-going-to-live-forever" invincibleness of a teenager to offset those less than stable thoughts.

Sounds painful.  Why in the world would I do this?

One of my heart’s desires is to stay connected with my dear true friends.  I am learning not to let fear get in the way of an opportunity to hug them and have in-person, soul-filling catch up time.   Facebook is wonderful, but it just isn’t the same as laughing together over old and new memories.

As an added bonus, I was able to meet the grown up version of many wonderful people who I, otherwise, might have never seen again.  I also met the grown up version of me working backwards through my story of the past twenty years.  I am so grateful for that story… insecurities and all.

Take a risk.

As my friend and mentor Michele Woodward says, “Expand your comfort zone.”

Move toward something that fills your heart.

I dare you!