*I could begin and end with this statement:
“If you do not believe in yourself, if you are not willing to take a risk on yourself, therefore, why should anyone else?”
That really says it all, but I will go a little further. I have come to realize that fear is the culprit that keeps us in the bondage of mediocrity. To achieve the greatest success, you have to embrace the prospect of failure.
The sweetest victory is the one that’s most difficult, the one that requires you to reach down deep inside, to fight with everything you’ve got, to be willing to leave everything out there on the battlefield—without knowing, until that do-or-die moment, if your effort will be enough.
We want the glory, but too often we are not willing to do what it takes to earn the story. This was epitomized in the movie “Woodlawn”, a movie about faith and football that comes out Friday, October 16th. To say that it is powerful, anointed and life-changing may be an understatement. I just know that it moved me in the deepest places of my soul; and that you owe it to yourself to see it and have your own personal experience.
Nevertheless, without telling you too much, I will share my favorite quote from the movie and which capsulizes the point. When one of the characters asks the star of the movie, a budding football star, “Why are you so afraid of getting hit?” He replied, “Because it hurts.” For me, that statement resonated so deeply because it’s the fear of pain, rejection, failure etc. that has prevented me from making the touchdown and in winning the game at pivotal points in my life. Bottom line, you can’t win in the game of life unless you are willing to play. Being all in, is risky. And yes you may get hit and hurt. But that’s where faith comes in. Do you trust God and all that He’s put inside of you enough to go for it, regardless of the cost? It is true, the greater the risk the greater the reward. So how great do you want to be and what are you willing to risk on your way?
Check out the official trailer from the movie, “Woodlawn” below:
Most people want to fulfill their purpose. Most people that we admire from Oprah to President Obama have failed at something long before they became a household name. But they used the experience to help them grow. In fact, they have often shared their experiences as examples to help us grow. In the midst of her success, Oprah shared her humanity, pain, process, faults and failures. Ironically, that is why we love her. Not just because she’s a great journalist, but because she gave us “Me Too Moments.” By sharing her vulnerability, it helped us to relate to her.
This level of authenticity has and continues to connect people in a real way. Nevertheless, we still run from the idea of being exposed for not having it all together. Breaking news: no one has it all together.
When the pressures of life weighs us down, it all makes us want to give up. We may even question if we should go on. Well, if the pressure does not break you, I declare it will make you wiser, stronger, longer.
This pressure can develop from stress at work, at home, in our personal lives or from financial pressure. Stress is heightened when we experience a series of unwelcomed circumstances and devastations like death, the loss of a job, or a broken relationship.
As I’ve shared, in the past, when something in my life gets too hard, I have been guilty of giving up too soon. I can remember times of being so sick with emotional pain; be it from a broken heart, a broken bank account, broken dreams, tumultuous family issues or the death of a loved one. The pressure was so heavy and the hurt so painful, that I just wanted to disappear. I wanted to do everything I could to avoid dealing with it. I wanted to hibernate.
Hibernating may work for a while but, like the ground hog, eventually we all have to come outside or in some cases, get back inside and deal. How many marriages or partnerships have broken up because when the discomfort or hard times began, somebody could not take the pressure; they ran away right in the middle of it all? The thing is, life requires us to feel the heat, and when you allow it to take its course, it can mature you. It can teach you and build your character.
Not all pain is bad or in vain. As a sociologist friend once shared, “You can’t really begin to appreciate life until it has knocked you down a few times. You can’t really begin to appreciate love until your heart has been broken. You can’t really begin to appreciate happiness until you’ve known sadness. You have to struggle up the mountainside to appreciate the breathtaking view at the mountaintop.”
So here’s how I’ll end this. Don’t give up until you’ve reached your “me too” mountaintop experience. Then go on to the next one. If you need more inspiration, watch “Woodlawn” this weekend. I’m going again. You’ll thank me later.
Deya Direct, the Fly Life Diva, Go-to-Girlfriend Love & Life-Changer Coach, Speaker & Author produces media and messages that turn problems into purpose!
Get directly connected with her at www.Deyadirect.net and sign up for her Fab-U-List newsletter!
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