"Be brave enough to live the life of your dreams according to your vision and purpose instead of the expectations and opinions of others." — Roy T. Bennett
When I was a kid I had a "playroom" on the second floor of our house. It was a small attic space with a slanted wall, dim lighting and an old vinyl accordion door. And I was TERRIFIED to go inside by myself because I was convinced a "boogeyman" (who I imaged to look a lot like Pinhead from Hellraiser) was in there. To make matters worse, the playroom was at one end of the hallway, right by the staircase, and my bedroom was at the other end...which meant that I had to pass it every time I wanted to go to or from my room and the first floor of the house. So, I developed a habit of sprinting that small portion of the hallway and walking for the remainder.
Now you might be thinking, "Cool story bro...but what does this have to do with anything?"
Well, with Halloween just behind us, the topic of FEAR has been on my mind.
But not the "I'm afraid of spiders" kind of fear.
Rather the kind of fear that stops us from doing what we really want to do.
That room was full of fun stuff that I wanted to play with...but I wasn't brave enough to push past my fear of what I imagined would meet me if I dared to enter.
And even though my "haunted playroom" scenario might seem like the standard silly stuff most kids are afraid of, it's really not that different from the made up scary stories we tell ourselves as adults.
For most of us, these scary stories come in the form of detailed reasons why we "can't" do that thing we've been wanting to do because...
...it will never work.
...other people will think we're crazy.
...it's not what we're "supposed" to do.
...we'll disappoint someone.
Which are all totally normal ways of thinking. Your brain wants to keep you safe.
New, different, unknown...that's all scary stuff according to our brains.
Which means, SPRINT to safety!
But what would you do if you weren't afraid?
What challenges would you take on if you weren't scared to dive in and say YES?
Maybe it's something big like going after a new job.
Or maybe it's something as simple as joining a gym.
It's these things, the scary YESES that although challenging, often lead to our greatest source of growth.
But if you keep believing the scary STORIES,
If you convince yourself that there's a "boogeyman" in the attic,
You'll never stop sprinting for safety.
Instead, you'll just keep passing by that metaphorical playroom, dreaming about all the potential for joy and creativity that lie inside.
So get honest and ask yourself,
What "scary stories" am I telling myself that are keeping me from taking on this challenge?
And
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