Even When Afraid, We Speak

Fear is the enemy.  What is it that Franklin Roosevelt said?

“The only thing we have 

to fear is … fear itself.”

And when we are afraid, we still speak.  We still put our hand to the task and we do the thing we are called to do - the thing that burns inside of us that calls us. 

We have no guarantees that anyone will listen.  We don’t know if we will sell even one copy of our project, yet we do it. 

WE DO IT!

Picture this … there sits a cage, and the door is standing wide open.  Inside, there is a man who has been locked in this cage for decades.  Oh, he has dreamed of freedom.  He has longed for the door to his cage to be sprung wide so he can ‘escape’.  And now the door opens.  And now freedom is steps away.

Will he take the first step toward freedom?  Will he come out of his ‘comfort zone’ and breathe the air of new possibilities, new opportunities?

He is afraid, and he doesn’t even know of what he is afraid, because he has never ventured from this ‘cage’ of his understanding.  But come out he must.  Come out he shall, for it is his time and his moment to do the new, to go where he has never gone before.

Are you afraid to go and be and do?

What if you just did it? 

Planned it?

Dreamed it?

Promoted it?

Did it?

Oh my, that is the stuff of which dreams are made.

I’m doing that even as I write.  If you’ve followed my blogs for long you have read of my desire to be a writer for thirty years.  For eight years I’ve been producing blogs, words of hope and encouragement, and it has been quite a ride.

Now, I launch a major speaking event.  No one came and asked me to do this.  I had to craft the speech. I had to ask to be allowed to present, and then to create the promo pieces. 

And in one week I’ll do a major presentation.

The fears … they are manageable.  And in the middle of my fears, I shall speak.  And it will be an evening into which I will pour my whole heart into.

What an exhilarating ride!!!

I hope you are finding your voice even in the middle of fear. 

We want to hear what you have to say … and you may say it through painting, music, a business venture or some other medium.

Speak to us!

Morning Notes Blog Site

Words of Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

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The Eighth Time May Work

I’m on number seven.  I’ve not had my success yet, but I made it to seven.  Do I have one more try left in me?  I don’t know.  I’ve blundered so much, lost so much, disappointed a few, and disappointed myself more.

And if I don’t try, I’ll never know, will I?

So here I go.  I will stand one more time.  I

will put the hammer to the nail, or whatever apt metaphor might apply, and I will once again try.  My dream is still as vivid as it has ever been. 

I am a bit weary of the journey and I am not at journey’s end.

Will people miss me?  Will they miss my efforts?

Wait a minute.  That is self-pity talking.  Who cares if they will miss me.  They can’t miss what they don’t know could have been.

Wow.  That is too good to pass by so quickly.

They can’t miss 

what they don’t know 

could have been.

So here I go.  I’m going to stand up one more time.  I’m going to strike a blow on my dream.  I’m going to do this thing. 

After all, the eighth time may work.

It just may work.

  

Morning Notes Blog Site

Words of Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

The Shelf-life of Good Deeds

We throw out spoiled milk when it starts to smell sour.  I ate some cheese in my eggs one morning and had to stop after two bites. The cheese had a shelf-life that had gone by.  Fresh foods have a shelf-life.  They are good for a time, and then, kaput!

Do my words and actions have a shelf-life? 

Maya Angelou thinks so.  She says this:

I can relate.  Can you?

When I was 7 years old, I was at my brother’s baseball game one Thursday night when our neighbor, Folk Lambert, came up to me and said, “Hey Mike.  Come here. I want to give you something.”

He reached into his pocket and handed me a shiny fifty-cent piece.  I thought I had won the lottery.  I enjoyed a Moon Pie and an RC Cola, and then topped it all off with a Snicker’s candy bar.  In fifteen minutes the fifty-cents were gone.  But the memory still lingers sixty years later. 

Folk was our neighbor.  I knew his sons.  And for one moment in time he did a deed that I’ve never forgotten.  It wasn’t rocket science.  It didn’t move the world off its axis.  He simply recognized me for an instant and gave me more than fifty-cents.  He gave me esteem.

I once was given $3000 anonymously.  It was a dreary time in my life when the bills were due and I was in a dark spot.  I have never forgotten the time and date when handed that envelope (which I have kept), with those bills inside.  I cried.  I was a grown man and I cried. 

Do good deeds have a shelf-life? 

You bet they do.

What good deeds have come your way in days gone by?  How often do you recall them and what kind and esteeming thoughts dart through your mind when you reminisce on that moment?

Perhaps we can pass this idea along.  Perhaps there is someone who will cross your path today and you can do one simple act of good will, and that act or kind word will mark them for life – in a good way.  Your good deed just might take on its own FOREVER shelf-life!

Now wouldn’t that be something.

Morning Notes Blog Site

Words of Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

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