I had an exchange with a friend this morning who wants to develop his writing craft. I asked if he’s discovered any tendencies that lead to an increased drive to write. I asked because, I find my own personal drive comes when my heart is heavy or longing for something more. Do you ever find your heart trying to communicate these feelings to you?
Because of previous feedback from my wife, I don’t want to come across as having a life that sucks…cuz I don’t. I’ve said this before in other posts, so forgive the repetitive talk here, but life is good on the surface. Good job, great marriage, wonderful family, financially doing well, 2015 Ram 1500 in the driveway…beautiful 2005 Harley Road King in the garage, beautiful home in a small town outside Fort Collins…and it has an HOA! What’s not to love about that? Life is good…on the surface.
But my heart is restless for adventure. Is yours? My heart wants to go after dreams and throw off the chains that hold me back. I’ve heard it said over the years that the worst enemy of “great” is “good”. What’s good in your life right now? Is it so “good” you’ve taken the nearest exit and decided to stay there?
Remember the game show Let’s Make a Deal? How often did someone pass up the opportunity of winning a new car behind door number 3 because they didn’t want to lose the $1,000 in cash they held in their hands? “Good” is safe; “Good” has a way of convincing us that we’ll regret putting it on the line for something more.
Maureen and I were leaders in a marriage ministry for several years and we used to hear the statement, “The enemy of a great marriage is a good marriage.” How about you, you struggling with a good marriage right now that’s kind of stopped climbing? What about your career…you become stagnant in a good job?
I’ve hit my mid-50’s and I guess a guy could accuse me of dancing with a girl named Midlife Crisis right now…but I’m not doing the hair comb-over and I don’t have an urge to go buy a corvette…maybe that’s because I wouldn’t fit in one right now. But honestly, I don’t believe I’m on the dancefloor. I think this is more about the future than it is about the past.
Seriously though, for those of you who are living the dream, high five to you! Keep it up, and in the meantime, help light the way for the many of us who have become comfortably numb and learned to tolerate “Good” at the expense of “Great”.
By the way, “Good” is a liar so be careful what you believe from him. “Good” paints this picture trying to convince you to stick around and build your house there. It promises you will find contentment, and well, isn’t it obvious…the good-life is found within the city limits of “Good”, and that’s what we’re after right?
Personally, my fear is the regret I will experience at the end of this thing we call “life” if I stay here. We’ve heard the saying over the years that you can’t take it (possessions) with you when you die right? So why do we place so much emphasis on keeping something we can’t take with us? Maybe somewhere at our core we’ve adopted the motto that “he who has the most toys (possessions) in the end wins”. You ever heard that one? Maybe, to some degree, we’ve allowed this to become a rule of the game we’re playing with our life.
I’ve accomplished nothing okay? I’m not talking from this place where I’ve arrived somewhere and feel compelled to share some wealth of enlightenment with you. I’m just a guy living in Egypt, and I sense there’s a Promised Land out there somewhere beyond all that blowing sand they call a Wilderness, and I’m trying to decide if the life I’m living is worth giving up for what’s out there.
As my friend Chase said a few posts back when I wrote about “Change”, the unknown is scary, even if we know in our head it’s probably a better way.
I’m going to go bible-story metaphor here with you, but many out there are too scared to even stop making the bricks for fear Pharaoh’s taskmasters will catch them not working and subject them to a royal beat down…but for those who are willing to stop what you’re doing and come to the edge of the wilderness with me for a moment, I wonder if it’s worth giving up the safety and security of getting our needs met here in “Egypt” for what our heart is drawing us out toward…out there in the unknown…
I hope we will have the courage to step out there into that blowing sand. This truly is a dangerous path to consider.
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