Standing right in front of you

Sometimes things in life are hard.

Sometimes a goal is so difficult to achieve that it makes you wonder to yourself, “Why am I even trying.”

Sometimes, there are roadblocks and obstacles at every turn that make you jump and swerve only taking you farther and farther away from your objective.  As if everything has conspired against you to prevent the words, “I’m happy”, from ever reaching your lips.

There are a lot of these “sometimes”.

Occasionally however, there are the times in your life where something is presented to you in the easiest, most plain way possible. 

They say “when something is too good to be true, it probably is.”  To that I say, Bullshit.

Most things in my life have been hard to come by.  I’ve had to work, and work hard at that, to get to where I am today.  In no way, shape or form am I saying that I’ve reached my pinnacle, but hard work is one of the cornerstones I have shaped my life on. 

From the day I was born it was impressed upon me that hard work is the only way to keep yourself afloat in the ocean of life.  My grandparents and parents instilled a value in me that to this day, is a part of how I define myself as a man. 

The real challenges in life are no longer the things I have to work hard at, probably because I’ve become so accustomed to them.  The toughest things for me to handle are often the easiest. 

When something is so blatantly obvious that it is the right choice and yet, you refuse to take it.  Why?

Let’s be honest.  It’s because you are scared.

 Maybe you have been hurt in the past, maybe there has been someone telling you what you are feeling isn’t right.  Whatever the case may be, you are scared of taking what is right out in front of you.

In its simplest form, fear boils down to a barrier you put between yourself and happiness.  Don’t let that fear ruin your life, furthermore, don’t let the fear run your life.

This dread is just fabricated ideas we put in our own head, things to prevent ourselves from getting to where we want to be.  Few people know however, these hurdles can be removed from the track of life.  If you put them there, well, then you can take them out.

If you want something so badly, if that one thing, whether it is a job, a life, a change or even a lover is going to take your life in a positive direction, go out there and take it.  Especially if it is standing right in front of you, don’t let fear dictate what you can and cannot do.  Stand up and refuse to let a chance pass you by.

As lame as it may seem, a classic family movie may have said it best.  In an exchange between the main character of “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” and the character known as the Birdlady, the young Kevin McCalister teaches a lesson about being afraid of putting yourself out there. 

Bird Lady: I’m just afraid if I do trust someone, I’ll get my heart broken.

Kevin: I understand. I had a nice pair of Rollerblades. I was afraid to wreck them, so I kept them in a box. Do you know what happened? I outgrew them. I never wore them outside. Only in my room a few times.

Bird Lady: A person’s heart and feelings are very different than skates.

Kevin: They’re kind of the same thing. If you won’t use your heart, who cares if it gets broken? If you just keep it to yourself, maybe it’ll be like my Rollerblades. When you do decide to try it, it won’t be any good. You should take a chance. Got nothing to lose.

Whether it is your heart or not, it’s true, you have nothing to lose.  

So go for it, take a chance, a leap of faith.  Make a plan and figure it out.  A goal without a plan is just a dream, but when you take fear out of the equation, you can make a dream reality.