Choosing to highlight my two talent show experiences in Day 4 turns out to be a perfect microcosm for many of my life experiences going forward. It also shines a light on an important lesson.
As I mentioned yesterday, my life has been a series of pushing towards and pulling away from what I say I want my life to be. Something within me keeps working up the nerve and determination to keep trying. Thankfully, I haven’t met with a colossal booing-off-stage ever again, but the growth has come in fits and spurts over the years.
These days I’m more consistent in my progress. My roots feel set.
I think that settled feeling comes from being in a safe, nurturing environment. Sometimes I wonder why it took me so long to get here. Maybe stubbornness and resistance?
If you look at the situations of the two talent shows, they were incredibly different. The public one was wild. The church talent show was more nurturing (I know that is not true for all church environments).
I don’t think we can always play it safe to reach our goals. There is a risk in stepping outside your comfort zone. But, if we bring awareness to our growth, we can be focused on where we grow, what we grow through, and maximize our efforts.
I’m thinking about that as I process the prompt for today. Maybe that fear I still feel at times that people will be mean just to be mean…well, maybe I’m not the one that should be showing up for those people. I don’t have to be everywhere. It’s more useful to be where people can hear me. Maybe others have to find me on their own terms – and maybe they don’t. I’m not for everybody.
One thing I can tell you from my Park Ranger days is that nature is as fierce and unrelenting as it is beautiful. Everything is trying to survive and do what it is genetically driven to do.
You don’t always have to be the biggest in stature to have a huge impact.
I’m here in the forest, adapted to my own little space in the underbrush.