Stepping Out

What is it about the first step that is so tough? Is it a fear of the unknown? A fear of failure? Too many other commitments calling our name? A fear of letting go of who we were or how we identify ourselves at this very moment? I think, more often than not, it’s a combination of these things that we use to disqualify ourselves. 

We are our own worst enemy when it comes to believing these fears/lies; letting them hold us in the exact same place, day after day, year after year. I am 100% guilty of it on too many occasions to count! To give you a prime example, it’s taken me over a month just to take the first step in sitting down to write this post!

We’re over two months into 2018 and I’ve been making a conscious effort to shut the fears and the lies down. The product of one of my biggest “steps” to date came to fruition on February 1st; I became the founder and owner of my very own chiropractic practice, Renew & Restore Wellness! 

Taking the first step towards this endeavor was hard, ok not just hard, terrifying! And I’d be lying if I said that the steps following that initial leap weren’t scary as well. There were moments where I was tempted to turn around and just accept one of the numerous job offers I had received. There were, and still are, moments of doubt, where I question my ability to carry out the duties of starting and running my very own company. But here’s what I know, God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). So many times we want to feel fully qualified before we take that first step. We want to feel a sense of perfection before letting others into a process, but at the end of the day, that doesn’t serve us well and it doesn’t serve those around us well either!

Let me ask you a question that a few friends and I have been chewing on for a couple of days… what happens when we pursue excellence rather than perfection? For me, that means I’m defined by who I am and Whose I am, rather than what I do. It means doing my best in any given situation and cutting out comparison to others. With this mindset comes a great deal of freedom because, as Theodore Roosevelt put it, “comparison is the thief of joy”.

So what’s calling your name? What are you stuttering to step towards? Whatever it is, take that first step… it will be worth it!