Let Your Passion Be Greater Than Your Fear

My favorite question, as I have mentioned previously, is to ask people, especially adults, what they want to be when they grow up.  Some people’s passions are obvious.  There is no need for me to ask them at all.  After spending just a few moments speaking with them they cannot help but mention with great enthusiasm what kindles their fire.  Their face glows.  They may share what they are doing, what motivates them, and/or their future plans.

There are others that speak of a dream, desire, vision or passion, but put very little effort behind bringing it to fruition.  They have ideas of grandeur.  They can even envision themselves where they want to be, but have no plan to get there.  We read in Proverbs 18:16 (KJV) a man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.  We also read in in James 2:28 (KJV) yea, a man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.  We must have faith, but it is the work or belief and effort that we put behind the faith that actually shows that we have faith.

If we say we believe, but never make an effort towards what it is that we believe, do we really believe?  You may not always succeed immediately out of the gate, but you must open the gate and step on the other side.

Sometimes we say we have a dream or desire, but is it even ours?  Could it be the desire our parents or someone of influence over our lives has for us?  Perhaps we see people with dreams all around us and we want one just because they have one.  Never belittle, or allow anyone else to belittle your dream.  No dream is too big and no dream is too small.  If it’s your dream you own it.  Get excited about it!  You may be the only one who is, but that’s okay.  It’s yours, and you are the one that will feel fulfilled when it comes to fruition.

There are many things that may hold us back, some are real and some are excuses.  But even what is real may slow us down, but should not stop us.  Tragedy can prevent us from moving forward, but we should not let it stop us.  Sometimes it may have the reverse effect and drive us forward.  Budget may stop us, but if we are experiencing a financial deficit we should channel our energy and resources in a productive direction to keep us moving.  When our momentum stops, even briefly, it is difficult to restart our engine.

Procrastination may be one of the most powerful blocks that prevent us from moving forward.  We come up with excuse after excuse, one of which is “I work better under pressure.”  Do you really work better under pressure, or is it that you wait until the last minute and when you complete your task you feel relieved?  Do you realize procrastination is a form of fear?  You may be afraid of failure which is natural; no one wants to fail, but you may be more afraid of success.  What happens when you succeed? What is your next step?  What will be expected of you?

Whatever your desire, dream, vision or passion, in order for you to succeed you must Let Your Passion Be Greater than Your Fear, which is what I have done.  My website www.gretahillman.com is now live; please click on the link to view.  Follow me on Twitter, like my Facebook page and feel free to leave comments. Subscribe to my blog read, and submit questions and/or comments to my forum.  I accept public speaking invitations and I encourage you to watch for the release of my books and upcoming events by visiting my site often.

Thanks for your continued support.  May God bless you as I yield myself to Him and He continues to speak through me.

 

 

Fulfillment

Years ago I would wake up every morning with an uneasy feeling. It’s kind of hard to describe. It felt a little like sadness. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was or its source. I will however say I wasn’t in the best place in my life during this time.

This morning when I woke up I had that same feeling and said God what is this? I’m happier than I’ve been in my entire life even though I do have a pressing issue that has not yet been resolved. But I know that was not the source of this uneasy feeling.

When I thought about it one of the scriptures that have great meaning to me popped into my mind. Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. That was it. I am working diligently, although at sometimes maybe not as diligently as I should, but for the most part I am pressing forward towards the vision God has placed in my heart. The uneasiness that I was feeling is a feeling of not being fulfilled.

Life is a journey full of ups and downs getting off track and getting back on track. As the beginning of Proverbs 13:12 reads hope deferred maketh the heart sick. When God has placed something in your heart that He wants you to do whether it is the vision for your life, ministry, job, family or a task you will not be fulfilled until it has been accomplished.

When you are first made aware of what God wants you to do you become excited. You feel joy that He trusts you enough to ask you to do something for him. While preparing to complete your task the feeling of joy may slowly dissipate if you are unable to complete it within your desired timeframe just as we read in the scripture. Depending on the task you may run into obstacles including but not limited to financial or family challenges or opposition from some of the people who initially supported you.

With all that may come against you it is imperative that you keep pushing forward. When you stop moving or procrastinate you may begin to feel like you are not going to reach your goal. Even when things are going your way and everything appears to be perfect you may still feel as though you are unfulfilled. There are a couple of reasons for these feelings.

As previously mentioned you will encounter obstacles to prevent you from moving forward. You may become dismayed which is an emotion that we will feel as fleshly beings but that is why God tells us if we walk in the spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. In this case the lusts of the flesh are the feeling that we will not reach our goal, or feeling like we want to give up.

These feelings also occur when we reach a milestone in our journey. Perhaps we have been accepted into the college of our choice, received a major contract, purchased a home or given birth to our first child. We are excited because as the second part of Proverbs 13:12 reads the desire or whatever it is that we have been hoping for has come and is like a tree of life. We feel alive like we may have accomplished a great feat. But guess what? There is always more. We may have accomplished what God has given us to do but once we reach that goal He knows that He can trust us and He gives us another task. Just as we read in Matthew 25 as the Lord said to his servants that took their talents and multiplied them…well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.

When you feel unfulfilled realize this is part of the journey. You will reach that point of fulfillment in due season if you faint not. Don’t let an emotion keep you from moving towards your goal. Remember you are a spirit residing in a body.  The body feels the emotions. Let your spirit override your flesh by keeping your eye on the prize, or your goal but most importantly keep your mind on the One who has given you the goal and is more than able to see you and your goal through to fruition.  

 

Perseverance

While on vacation last week I was able to witness two amazing performances by two different types of performers. The first included four different motorcycle groups performing synchronized drills. The precision was amazing each group unique in its own way. It was obvious the amount of time, effort and practice each group exercised to hone their skills.

At the end of each performance you could see the joy in their faces as they celebrated their flawless performance. The crowd applauded cheered and whistled at the finale when all four groups rode together blowing their horns and flashing their lights.

The second performance was by Vocal Trash. You may have heard of them or attended one of their performances yourself. I watched and listened as they sang, danced and engaged the audience with their enthusiastic musical message played on instruments made from recycled materials.

Both groups of performers were filled with passion. If you haven’t realized it I am very passionate about people who are passionate about their passion. As I listen to people talk about their passions I can see and feel their passion. I can visual the success of a passionate individual as they express to me their goals as well as their plans to attain them.

The operative words here are passion, goal and plan. In addition to a passion, drive or desire you must set S.M.A.R.T or specific, measureable, achievable, realistic, and time-limited goals. You must also have an action plan. Any of these by themselves are enough to light a fire but you need the other two to fuel the fire and keep it burning.

Even with the combination of all three there will be times you may think you are wasting your time, will never succeed and if you have made a monetary investment you may feel like you have thrown your money away. It was obvious the performers I watched had passion, a goal and an action plan but there were probably times when thoughts of failure may have crossed their minds just as they may have yours and mine.

What made these performers successful? Perseverance, it’s the same thing that makes anyone successful. I’ve written about commitment and being convinced but no matter how committed you are or how convinced you are you must still have goals and a plan of action to reach your goals. You should invest time and effort daily if possible. Create a weekly plan to reach your overall goal.  If you are unable to commit time daily set aside time on your calendar during the week to commit to your plan. Do not become discouraged if you are unable to keep your commitment one day. Instead if possible increase your effort the next day you have allotted on your calendar so you do not fall behind in your weekly goal. What is your plan this week to take you closer to reaching your goal?