Can you smell it? Pumpkin Spice is giving way to scents of pine and frosted cranberries. Familiar tunes stir up holiday cheer in our hearts. Charlie Brown and The Grinch get their fair share of attention. Soon we will be clinking glasses of egg nog while standing under mistletoe and wondering who’s making a list and checking it twice. Speaking of lists, now is also the time of resolutions and cut offs.
Oh, don’t judge me! Surely, I am not alone in the latter. We all have resolutions – get healthy, become organized, travel more. We, too, have our “not gone” lists – I’m not gone do this and I’m not gone do that. As one year exits and another enters, it is our natural inclination to consider that which we will no longer tolerate. We cut off fruitless friendships and toxic associations. Anyone and anything contrary to living our best lives has to go, right? These release lists serve as roadmaps to freer, more fulfilling futures. While our destinies are not mirror images, I dare suggest that every list be topped with the same intolerable culprit: FEAR.
Yes, my dears, FEAR. Years ago, I heard a speaker present fear as an acronym: False. Evidence. Appearing. Real. My challenge to each of us is that we clear the way for clarity to flow in 2020 by boldly proclaiming, “What I’m NOT GONE DO is tolerate fear!” Okay, so it’s not grammatically correct, but it is matter-of-fact enough for your heart and mind to get on board.
FACT: Fear interjects confusion to prevent vision from flourishing. Possessing the ability to envision the end result is not enough. It’s just the beginning – a greater beginning but still no more than a starting point. Strategy is required to know which steps to take. Our moves matter! Fear jumps in to point out all the facts and negative possibilities.
I’m not skilled enough.
My plan says this, but my bank account says that.
Who is actually going to be interested in this concept?
What if I fail???
So on and so forth; fear highlights lack and deficits as insurmountable odds. Oddly enough, nothing great ever happens without risk. I mean NEVER does that occur! There comes a point when dreamers have to wake up and live. Whether we tiptoe, run, or leap by faith, we do so not fully knowing if our “it” will work. Our motivation is the understanding that no vision materializes without action. We owe it to ourselves to try. We owe it to purpose to put one foot in front of the other. First, we must resolve to release fear. What we NOT GONE DO is carry that burdensome baggage into another year. Bid farewell to all false evidence that appears to be real.
So, friends, let us make our lists and check them twice.
I promise you, fear is naughty, not nice.
It belongs at the top, no longer to be tolerated.
Hesitant? Why? Aren’t you tired of frustration?
Clarity awaits you in the year 2020.
Go for the gusto!
You’re NOT GONE LOSE, hunny!
LaToya NaShae’s passion and purpose are equipping others to live like they know WHOSE they are. She is an author, speaker, and life coach who walks alongside others on their journey to a life of purpose. Her aim is to encourage you to live an unstuck, unbound, unbreakable life in Christ! Visit LaToya’s website: www.breakoutcoaching.buzz and connect on social media via FB: @Breakout-Coaching and IG: @coach_latoyanashae . LaToya is offering 20% off her coaching services by mentioning code: TRIBE.
*photo from Stocksnap.io
