It’s like you’re standing on the edge of a cliff and while you want to take the leap, all you can see is death instead of rebirth on the other side.
Last month, I was honored to feature several entrepreneurs who were willing to share a piece of their story on starting and growing a business. It has always been my desire to inspire hope. And I felt that by sharing their stories, I was doing just that. But I realized, as I listened to their stories, that no matter how inspiring and motivating they made us feel, if we couldn’t see past our own fears, those inspiring stories would be nothing more than a sweet whisper into a deaf ear.
Thinking about the many false starts you hear about from businesses who’ve tried but failed to sustain themselves, I couldn’t help but to wonder if being forced into a corner and finally pushed unwillingly, is enough. What I mean by that is not every entrepreneur decides to go into business because they want to. Some do it because they decided to hustle for food and shelter rather than hope for the sake of keeping hope alive or relying on the government to save them, knowing it would never be what is fully needed to thrive.
In my case, I’ve always felt I was supposed to be a business owner. But, I also knew I wasn’t ready because I didn’t understand my purpose, and I was afraid. I was afraid of success just as much as I was afraid of failure. And discovering your purpose takes time (I’m impatient), not to mention the continual reinvention stages of maturity any work in progress goes through. And so, even though I was pushed off the edge physically, mentally and perhaps spiritually, I remained on the cliff.
Here’s the thing about fear: You can have it, acknowledge it, and still press forward.
“Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the willingness to act in spite of my fear.”
(Ok I’ve read that way too many places so I’m not sure who said it 1st)
And so, today and everyday, even though I am sometimes afraid, (Ok sometimes very afraid) I make the decision to act despite my fear.
What about you?
Flickr Credit: moonsoleil