I’m seven months into this journey of starting my own business. It hasn’t been easy and most days I’m asking myself what I even think I’m doing?
It’s easy to let the doubts and the fear scare me away from my vision and goals. I confess that too often I decide to quit and then I wake up the next morning, realize I can’t quit and I keep on keeping on.
Before I decided to start this business and was discerning what I should do I talked to the different people in my life who I can always count on for wisdom and good advice.
One night specifically I called a meeting with three of my friends. I told them all of my thoughts, I shared with them my heart, dreams and ideas. I told them this was crazy and probably a terrible idea.
They didn’t pressure me one way or another, they actually told me it was a good idea and they listened and asked good questions. They held space for me. They held my hand and prayed for me and what is to come. It was one of the most holy moments I’ve ever experienced. Even thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.
Not too long after that when I decided to start this next adventure I was already ready to be done (you could say perseverance isn’t always one of my strengths) and one of those friends said this:
“Don’t uproot in fear what you have planted in faith.”
That has become my mantra. Fear is almost always why I want to quit. Fear has a way of screaming across my soul that what I want to do doesn’t matter and that I’m not the one capable of doing it. Fear has a sneaky way of planting those seeds of doubt and reminding you often of how you could fail.
I don’t love to fail. I mean most people don’t want to fail, but my whole life if I thought I would fail at something I just wouldn’t do it. It’s a terrible way to live and I’m slowly unlearning that habit. A fear of failure will shut us down and not allow us to make the mistakes and take the chances we need to in order to fully live and be who we are meant to be. We can’t listen to the fear.
Fear screams where faith whispers.
If I silence the fear and go against the urge to quit it all, I hear that still, small voice that whispers peace and reassurance across my soul.
The voice that reminds me that I didn’t come to this decision lightly. That even if my business fails, I’m not a failure because I am so much more than a business venture I decided to try. It reminds me that my value and worth doesn’t come from what I do, that’s not who I am.
And I remember that most things worth doing will make you afraid. If there’s not a little bit of fear involved, is it really even worth it?
So here’s to doing things that make us afraid - may we try them wholeheartedly and celebrate the failure as much as the success because at least we tried and there’s always something to learn.
May we use the fear to ignite our passion rather than let it smother it.
May we quiet the fear and create space for the whispers of faith.
May we never uproot in fear what we have planted in faith.
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