Often we merely exist in a world that was meant for living. Frequently we let the world revolve around us, when we should be part of the motion. Too many times we sit when we should be dancing. It is easy to watch from the stands, cheering for a winning team, when we could be one of the players.
Fear, lack of motivation, and anxiousness suffocates us and puts out the fire, stifling our willingness to embrace all of life that is available to us. We watch the picture play out on a real life screen, placing ourselves in the scenes merely by wishful thinking, not by motivational endeavors. Our theater seats have become too comfortable.
How many times have you watched others do what you long to do?
How many times have you desired to venture out where other people have traveled?
How many times have you wished to see more, do more, and become more than you are?
There is always risk. There are always the jitters and nervous stress that precedes anything unknown. An eagle does not fly, reaching heights of grandeur, if he does not leave the nest. No, to reach heights of grandeur, one must step forward, reach out and leave the spot that is comfortable. It is leaving the secure for the unknown that has enabled man to fly, to break the sound barrier and to walk on the moon.
It was with determination and repeated attempts after denials and rejections that great novels have been published. It is with training and hard work, after defeats, that records have been broken. After conquering an endeavor, new goals have been set for others to achieve.
Often, a step out results in the next step being a step backwards and people tend to fear regression when they experience motion. Not all falling away or pruning is failure. Sometimes it is when one has trimmed off the nonessentials, clipped the mistakes, looked at situations from other angles, that growth is speedy and branches out with a new vigor. Yes, sometimes even regression can be progression.
When we slow down and make a change we are often able to reach our goals even quicker, for it is then we are able to see more clearly. To conquer, you must risk defeat. To gain, one must risk loss. To achieve, one has to realize there is failure; defeat, loss and failure or not in and of themselves the end. No - quitting is the end. To quit, in essence, is to stop living.
To just exist in a world where there is great potential would be like dying a slow agonizing death, if life to you simply means breathing and not enthusiastically participating. Why not try dancing? Maybe you've never danced before and at first you'll miss a few steps - that's okay; you're working on forward motion, not perfection!
Great strides are not made without a few stumbles, a few missteps. A person can not dance to a song without feeling the beat; so move with the music. Make life a song! Life is ever moving; you decide the direction. Are you moving forward or is the world revolving around you? Life can not be lived to completeness when you are not part of the motion.
Forward motion does not necessarily mean vigorous activity or boisterous verbal proclamations. It can be doing big things in small ways. It can be doing significant activities in a quiet unassuming manner. It can be making great strides doing for other people and taking no credit.
Look at the way Mother Teresa and Rosa Parks lived their lives; they made a difference in this world. They were mild-mannered soft spoken people who did not seek notoriety for themselves. They did, though, take giant steps forward that made a difference in so many other people's lives, for generations to come. Mother Teresa and Rosa Parks danced to the tune of a dedicated life, in steps taken for others, to make a better life for so many people. Their music will live on in history books.
Most of us will not be recorded in history books, we will not win the Nobel Peace Prize, or perhaps even have our name recognized, but we can dance to the music of life and make a difference for ourselves and other people in this world.
Are you letting the world revolve around you, watching others make a difference?
Do you just exist in a world that is made for living?
Why not get out of your theater seats and join in the motion - try dancing to the music of life. You can make a difference; play your own special tune, dance your own special dance!
When your day on this earth has ended, let it be said "You Made a Difference," you lived life and "You Danced Your Own Special Dance!"
Betty King
Betty King is the author of two books, It Takes Two Mountains to Make a Valley, and But - It Was in the Valley's I Grew. She is also a Life Style and Devotional newspaper columnist and freelance writer and speaker. Her writings can be found in several Chicken Soup books. Her website is www.bettyking.net or email her at baking2@charter.net
