Living Boldly
Time has been on my mind lately, mainly how quickly it’s flying by. The wind blows outside and I find it hard to believe that the holidays lurk around the corner. Where did summer go?
When I was young, summer seemed to last forever. And for me as a kid, I loved that. As I grew into adulthood and my responsibilities grew, time seemed to lessen. I equated having more time with having less responsibilities.
But one day, as a mother, my one daughter expressed dismay at how quickly her summer went by. I thought: “How can that be? You’re a child with no responsibilities.” But fly by it did.
Busyness
I think that busyness steals time away from us, not responsibilities. One can be busy doing just about anything. And sometimes, anything means nothing. As previous posts I’ve written over the past years expressed, we humans are good at squandering time, wasting time by living in the past or worrying about the future, and taking time for granted. We assume that we’ll have tomorrow to do what we are meant to do today.
So with all this talk about time, why is the title of this post “Living Boldly”? As I reflect on time, I reflect on the reality that none of us are guaranteed a certain amount of time on this earth. With that thought in mind, wouldn’t living boldly be the only way we’d want to live?
To live boldly
When we live boldly, we get out of our comfort zone. Our heart prompts us to do something, we do it. We take risks. If the risk pays off we celebrate. If we fail, we celebrate. Because only through failing do we learn and grow, and that’s worth celebrating!
When we live boldly, fear of failing, or succeeding, no longer stops us in our tracks. Fear of what other’s may think of us doesn’t affect or sway us. Fear no longer stops, or controls, us.
Living boldly means we live with gusto. We go after our dreams regardless of age. Someone says you’re too young or your too old, well that’s their problem not yours. Living with gusto means we’re choosing to see every moment in our lives as an opportunity to experience life. Our hearts become grateful for all life’s moments, big and small.
We also love boldly. We give of ourselves to others whether it’s reciprocated or not.
When we live boldly, we live confidently. We embrace the person God designed us to be. When we also allow him to align our hearts’ will with His will, we live more fully.
Prayer
God, we are your handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which you prepared in advance for us to do. We are confident that You who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion. Thank you for reminding us we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 1:6, 4:13)
