right back at it

    So, I have had two of the craziest, most encouraging/challenging, and overall "full" weeks in recent memory...any chance that's because I have made the conscious effort to let go of a lot of old garbage that was holding me back? 

    Laird Hamilton might not be a household name to you.  He was the first surfer to use a jetski so he could be towed into waves bigger than a parking garage.  This not only saved him from trying to catch the behemoths the standard way, but meant he could ride waves approaching 100' tall!  All that to say, Laird does stuff I could (and would) never do, but I read a quote from him one day that has stuck with me forever.  He once told a reporter (and I am paraphrasing, sorry Laird) that we live in such a fortunate and comfortable place, that it is essential that we challenge or scare ourselves DAILY to remind ourselves how fragile life is. 

    Although I don't get to surf waves daily anymore, I really agree with what Laird Hamilton said.  I have missed being challenged (and even scared, honestly).  I woke up a couple weeks ago and realized that at some point unbeknown to me, I had pushed the cruise control button on life and had become ambivalent, cautious, and had resigned to be a casual observer within my own skin. 

    When it came right down to it, my reasons for playing it safe were all good ones (aren't they always?).  We just recently bought a house.  I have three young children and a wife who is deserving of all my love and attention.  I work long hours as a street outreach worker at a local non-profit.  I have physical limitations and daily pains as a result of a surgery that messed me up almost a decade ago.  I even beat myself up every week on the basketball court at a ministry outreach I run. 

    I say those things to show you that the best lies are the ones that are 1/100th lies and 99/100ths truth.  It wasn't wrong to provide for my family or want to do well in my job, but I was playing it safe and comfortable because it was easier.  I grew complacent, because I no longer took the tasks at hand as challenges and blessings, but instead saw them as my lot in life...the daily grind.  I let it all wear on me, instead of seeing them for what they were.

    Now that I have begun to force myself to be as straight forward and honest as I can be (beginning with myself), I have shook off a lot of the old dust and crap that was keeping me where I was.  I see now that there are new possibilities and challenges in my day to day that MUST be embraced. 

    The best gift in this lately, is that my world has opened and I have started to dream again.  I now try to listen to the words that echo in my mind telling me to act, to do, to think outside the box this instant.  Old friends have come out of the woodwork.  New ones have appeared out of thin air.  Conversations, opportunities, and new challenges have begun to sprout and I feel so blessed.

   My challenge for you is the same as the one I have for myself each day now.  Are you being honest?  If not, is what's holding you back worth it?  Just some thoughts...