Be proud with me for a minute: I delegated this week! I asked ladies to take over setting up and taking down the tables for the Tea party, and I got the Royal Rangers to come make food for the day. I gave the expectations and walked away — no micromanaging. I also took time for myself without guilt — went to book club. I still need to sit down with the other leaders to define excellence and address expectations.
This week I told a co-worker and friend that I was tired of feeling small enough to put in a box when I was made to be big. There are so many things I want to experience and do in my life, and I have been blessed with many talents that I don’t feel I’m utilizing fully. I’m struggling with walking the line between being responsible to my family and being stuck in a comfort zone. Then I read these chapters, and the desire to just jump grew.
Courageous
No risks= No need for faith. As a Christian, I need to be “chasing after something that is much bigger than we are”. I think about the vision I have for the MPact Clubs, the vision I have for our family, the vision I have for this blog and what comes next. I am driven to make a positive impact in my community, and ultimately on the life my family lives.
This book reminded me that”small acts of courage are possible every day”. I need to write my top ten fears so I can figure out how to face them head on so they are no longer something I fear.
Five things to do to help build courage
- Set scary standards. I once read that if your dream doesn’t scare you, it’s not big enough.
- Allow for failure. Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed 10,000 times. I just know 10,000 ways NOT to make a lightbulb.”
- Reward innovation.
- Pursue the right opportunities.
- Learn to delegate. Give others a chance to lead.
If I were to get a tattoo, it would be three interconnecting rings. One labeled Courage, one Strength, and one Insanity because there is a fine line between them all, and sometimes I’m not sure which line I’m walking. One of the young ladies I worked with at a lockdown facility for troubled youth drew me this:
I honestly feel like I’m comfortable with this area. In fact, I feel like I’m more ready to take leaps of faith than those around me are. Some examples of small acts of courage in my life include running my first marathon when everyone told me I was crazy and that it was too hard, pushing through a major depressive episode and a divorce while raising two girls, doing a master’s degree and working two jobs while also adding two more babies to the family, and now this blog.
Principled
When Trevor and I first got married, I was thrown into the world of football spectators. Not knowing a thing about the game or the teams, I struggled to watch the hours required each Thursday, Sunday and Monday. One of Trevor’s friends pulled me aside one day and gave me some advice, “Sit back, watch and listen. By next season, you will be able to understand what is going on. That is when it becomes fun.” So, I sat back and watched the guys on the field and the group of husbands. I paid attention to what the players said when they were interviewed. I listened to the spotlights the tv stations ran on the players. I thought about qualities I wanted my kids to see reflected in all areas of my life. I became an Aaron Rogers fan by the way he took the blame when the game didn’t go well, and how he praised the other players when they won. I admired how he seemed to be having fun no matter where the camera caught him, but he also studied plays and discussed things with multiple members of the team when he came off the field. Brad Lomenick states in this chapter that “the best leaders are reflectors of praise, not absorbers.”
“Character is who you are when nobody is looking” was a quote that was posted in one of my high school history classrooms. I would look at that every other day, and it stuck with me all these years. I try to live so I’m the same in my private life as I am in my personal life.
Call to Action
- Intentionally do at least one thing to replenish myself this week.
- Sit down with the Mpact leaders to define excellence and expectations and how we are going to achieve them.
- Identify top 10 fears and begin facing them.
