I'm wondering-- what's in your heart that you want to do but haven't yet?
Maybe it's a truth-telling conversation. Maybe it's re-doing your resume so you can apply for that job or opening yourself up to a new relationship. Maybe it's starting a new side hustle or a hobby that will open up a bigger world of opportunities for you.
Whatever it is-- you can't get seem to get moving. There are so many questions in your mind about "the right time."
You're not yet ready for this week's word: launch. Launch which means to release, to set into motion; to start.
As a kid of the 1980s I can remember the anticipation of the day we all all sat around a TV in my elementary school preparing for the launch of the Challenger space shuttle carrying teacher astronaut, Christa McAuliffe. We'd just finished a unit on space in my classroom. We learned all about the parts of the space shuttle that would carry the 7 astronauts. We were excited to follow this journey.
But then we know what happened. The launch was a disaster. Christa died. So did all of her crew mates. This failure to launch was so devastating to Americans and the space program that a NASA shuttle did not fly again for 3 years.
On the night of the crash President Reagan addressed the nation saying:
“The future doesn’t belong to the faint-hearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them.”
I love these the words because as a person who doesn't want to launch until I'm pretty confident of success, the truth of the matter is: launching is not about success. It's about action.
To launch is to be faithful. It's no small thing.
The Challenger story is an extreme example of course-- so tragically sad, but in everything I've read since about Christa McAuliffe's life and story I know that day of the big launch there was no other place she wanted to be. She was "all in" and left a legacy in her death of so many school children like me deeply invested in space and brave hands-on learning.
So, this week, what's one thing you can do to inch your way closer to launch? How about making that phone call? Or writing that email? Could you sign up for that class?
Stand on the edge of God's nudge for your life and go for it. I'm cheering you on.
XO
Elizabeth
