There are those that choose to live weak – constant victims, living within the boundaries others and themselves have created. They look at their humanity and see nothing but limits. They see their physical, emotional, and mental shortcomings and use them as excuses for why certain things can’t or won’t happen. They see life situations and blame them for their personal discomfort.
At some point people come to the realization that their ability to blame other people or adverse circumstances in their life for their shortcomings or situational difficulties isn’t a sustainable life model. Of course, there are plenty of people who go to their grave convinced that they were given a lousy lot in life and whatever that lot was is the reason they weren’t able to do all the things they knew they were capable of doing.
I fight this battle at multiple levels each and every day. The word “can’t” is one of my least favorite words, but I catch myself using it all the time. Couple years ago, I was in one of the darkest places I can remember. I was looking for a way to reinvent myself, to do something different than I had always done. As it turns out, my friend, Jon Acuff, has a book entitled “Do Over.” It’s one I think everyone would benefit from reading. As I was reading his book and plotting my next steps, I became keenly aware of how I would set my path for progress and then immediately doubt myself because of all the things and people who I was sure would stand in the way of my success or had straight up told me I would certainly fail.
I was sitting at my kitchen table working through goals I hoped to accomplish and milestones I hoped to reach and became so frustrated with the barriers I continued to put in my own path. I grabbed the closest piece of paper and penned the following note to myself, “Note to Self: Shut Up and Get Out of My Way! I Want to Succeed! Let me!” I took that note and put it at the top center of our fridge in the kitchen where not only I would see it, but anyone who came over to our house. I wanted people to ask me about it and, by doing so, hold me accountable to stop tripping over my own feet.
When you look at where your life is and where you want it to go, if you have a sense that there is some sort of force acting upon you to prevent you from reaching the height to which you know in your deepest soul you can reach, look in the mirror and chances are you’ll find the biggest source of that interference.
I have had people, from strangers to those close to me, who have told me that I am destined to fail. “Maybe you should stick to painting.” “Why would you write a book? No one is going to read it.” Those comments are very real and have had a very real impact on my life. However, they’re just words. The only thing that gave them any power over my life was me. I’m working through it and attempting to remove myself as a barrier to my own success. How far could you go if you got out of your own way?