What would I do if I could not fail?
Jana Stanfield wrote a great song entitled “If I Were Brave” in which she asks this question, “What would I do if I knew I could not fail?” This is a powerful question to take into the new year that faces us. Do you know the answer to that question for yourself?
Here are a few lines to ponder from the song: “What steps would I take today, if I were brave?
What if we were all meant to do what we secretly dream? What would you ask if you knew you could have anything? Are there miracles in you and me? How far would I go, what I could I achieve, trusting the hero in me?” Finally the most powerful line of the song, “What if I never lost faith even when losing my way?” I strongly suggest finding this song and playing it over and over to remind yourself of these questions.
What is behind the fear of going forward with our dreams? Failures, feeling foolish, comfort zones, time, age, dream killers, the list is as long as there are people who get stuck. So often people think it takes great courage to be brave but the truth is, it takes action and believing in the hero within you. Pema Chodrin writes, “Usually we think the brave have no fear, the truth is they are intimate with it.” Lao Tzu writes, “When you realize there is nothing lacking; the whole world belongs to you.”
F.E.A.R., Face Everything And Recover or Forget Everything And Run, which will you practice this year. Have you noticed the fear that rolls around in your head rarely comes true? If I had all the hours back that I’ve allowed the fear to overwhelm me, I’d be much younger than I am today.
All to often we kill our own dreams because we are fearful of looking foolish, we want to be experts as a beginner. Yet, don’t we all want to dance as if no on is watching, sing like no one can hear, and love like you have never been hurt? All of this takes great courage and facing down our fears.
What does it take to be brave? First and foremost, it takes not losing faith when you have lost your way. I have been blessed to meet and speak with many famous and adventurous people in life. Every one of them would tell you that they had lost there way many times, but they never quit dreaming and never quit believing in “the hero”within. This hero is described by many names a Power greater than me, Spirit, God, the Great Creator and it are written about in millions of books in one form or another.
Begin today to take that first step. If you don’t know what you want, ask and then listen, “What would I do today if I brave?” Write your dreams on paper and look at them every day. Support yourself through a coach, a Mastermind group or be brave and create a coaching group in which you can support each other in moving forward.
What if there are miracles in you just waiting to come forth? As the old story goes, we will not be asked at the end of life why we were not like Bono, the Pope, or Stephen King, we will be asked why we were not ourselves.
Rev. Lana Charlton is the senior minister at Unity Gateway Church, Coral Springs, FL, and writes for numerous worldwide, national, and local publications.