Hey Ya’ll, It’s a New Year
That title sounds so Southern. But hey, I was born and raised deep in the
heart of Texas so I guess that makes me a Southerner – and I am so proud of
it! Okay, let’s get down to the real
nitty gritty. The year 2015 is now chronicled
as history as we enter into a brand new year.
Yeah 2016!!! Many of us have
hopes, dreams and ideas that have been percolating in our minds for a while but
we have been too afraid to venture past our comfort zone. I often hear it said that we are afraid of
success and I don’t whole heartedly agree with that assessment. I think many of us are more afraid of
failure than we are of success. The
very thought that our ‘baby’ (you know that idea/dream you want to give birth to)
might encounter rejection elicits protection strong enough to hold that baby
close and shield it from criticism. But ladies, we gots to birth that baby. If we don’t then we are setting our hopes
and dreams up for failure.
I want to write. I
love to write but I don’t have a writing pedigree – not one that is easily
recognized by employers. My writing
pedigree is derived by the desire to link words together and create a poem or
story that can elicit laughter, tears and yes, criticism. But I am scared mainly because of the
negative chatter I have allowed in my head.
Chatter such as: “What if my
comma placement is off” – and it often is?
“What if no one gets what I am trying to say?” “What if I am not as good
a writer as I think I am?”. And the list
goes on. Once I joined a writing group
hoping to develop my skills and my writing-esteem. The experience was awful. Some of the group members judged your work on
how they judged you. If they didn’t like
you, they didn’t like your work. And,
while I think I am soft spoken, easy going and an all-around introvert who
tries to treat people they way I want to be treated, somewhere along the way I
have failed miserably. This group did
not care for anything that I wrote. I
mean not anything. Since I considered
them as my peers, some of them had even been published, I wanted desperately
for them to like my stuff. I am not a
good candidate for abuse so you know I had to let those pigeons fly away. But before I opened the coop, my
writing-esteem built a dam around my creative store of words that originally
flowed like water in a stream. I found myself stuck, bound, inhibited and
afraid to write.
But heeeyyyy! I’m
back. I am not making any resolutions, I
am making promises. To me resolutions
are the lie you tell yourself with good intent.
A promise is binding and when I make a promise I keep it.
Yes, it is a brand new year which affords change, acceptance
and even motivation. Whatever has caused
you to be afraid to step out and make your hopes and dreams a reality needs to
receive an eviction notice. It can be
procrastination bound by excuses dealing with time and/or money; it can be
doubt and fear of rejection. It can be people,
places or just stuff. Either way, an
eviction notice is in order. Jeremiah
29:11 says He knows the plans He has for us.
So let’s get out of the way and trust in the process.
Repeat after me…
I issue this eviction notice to negative chatter, fear, lack
and whatever else I am allowing to hold my hopes and dreams prisoner. From this day forth I will work toward not
allowing fear to determine my success. From
this day forth I will do something that moves me toward my destiny each and
every day. I promise this to myself!
Now come on ya’ll, let’s get this party started.
Ciao for now…
SoniaJ