This week we are continuing in the Shorter Contemplation series on self-belief.
Today's short contemplation is based on a book title I read years ago called Do Hard Things.
This book was created by twin teenage boys who were sick of the low expectations placed on teenagers and so they created a blog,
Then a book and a whole movement was started where teenagers were taught to recognize they had much more within them than others expected and that they themselves thought.
They were then encouraged to go and do something that they thought was difficult.
What followed was millions of teenagers around the world raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for charities,
Fighting human trafficking,
Receiving Grammy Award nominations and one even being invited to the White House to speak.
These teenagers challenged the expectations of others but most of all they challenged their own self-beliefs.
The problem with our belief system is that it can stop us getting started in doing anything that feels uncomfortable.
Think about the last time you did anything that really scared you because it was out of your comfort zone.
Maybe you don't have a problem in this area.
Maybe you are always up for a challenge and doing hard things all the time.
But maybe you don't.
Maybe you talk yourself out of doing anything that you consider difficult.
That you tell yourself I can't do that because of this or that.
Henry Ford famously said if you think you can do a thing or think that you can't,
You're right.
So what things would you like to do?
What do you dream yourself doing?
What are the things you wish you could do?
Fly a plane.
Write a book.
Sing in public.
Speak in public.
Start your own business.
Ask someone out on a date.
Say something honestly to someone about your feelings.
Paint.
Do some DIY.
Just think for a moment.
How would you finish this sentence?
If I could,
I would love to.
.
.
And what stops you?
A lack of finances.
A lack of time.
A lack of ability.
A lack of courage.
Nick Vigichic was born without arms and legs.
He is a world famous motivational speaker,
Married with children.
He plays golf,
Swims and surfs.
It would be easy for him to say I don't have the physical abilities,
Therefore I can't.
Ray Charles went blind at seven,
Lost his mum at 15,
Became severely depressed,
But went on to win 12 Grammy awards for his music.
He could have quite easily said I can't.
Helen Keller was blind and deaf,
But went on to gain a degree,
Write articles and books,
And became an activist in women's rights.
She worked very hard for 25 years just to be able to learn how to talk.
Therefore it wouldn't have been a problem for us to accept her saying I can't.
Beethoven became fully deaf.
Einstein was autistic and dyslexic.
JK Rowling was a divorced single parent receiving welfare and getting knockbacks from numerous publishers.
Walt Disney was fired from his job for lacking imagination and became bankrupt.
And Thomas Edison's teacher said he was too stupid to learn anything and then later in life his experiments to create light failed a thousand times before he succeeded.
All these people could have believed that they couldn't achieve,
Couldn't succeed,
Couldn't have even attempted.
They took us of their lack in some area and we would have quite happily accepted that.
But these people have contributed so much to our world despite their lack.
They just didn't allow for that belief to abide in their thinking.
Lao Tzu said,
Do the difficult things whilst they are easy and the great things while they are small.
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step.
So whatever your dream is,
Don't be overwhelmed by the whole picture.
Can you break it down into a smaller chunk?
A book is not written as a book.
It starts with a word,
A sentence,
A paragraph,
A page,
A chapter and so on.
Close your eyes now and think how your dream can be broken down.
What could be the first step of your thousand mile journey?
These are words taken from a poem by David White called Sweet Darkness.
Just allow the words to settle in and to inspire and encourage you to do hard things.
You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.
Give up all the other worlds except the one to which you belong.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.
Are you living in a world that is too small for you?
Are you confining yourself,
Keeping yourself small because of your self beliefs?
Your excuses of lack,
Of I can't?
Sit quietly now and contemplate this question taken from Mary Oliver's poem.
Tell me,
What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
I encourage you to write down your plan of what you are going to do with your wild and precious life.
Let me know.
Tell me what your first step of your thousand mile journey will be.
Thank you.
