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Today is new
As a child’s first
step

(Fragment of a poem I wrote in 2004 that has been hiding in my green tub since then.)

 

How about this one:
Henry keeps saying to his wife, “I just want to go on our camping trip to Yellowstone.”
Hour after hour he complains, as she politely and empathically listens.
Finally she can’t take it anymore, and yells, “HENRY! If you want to get us to Yellowstone, you are going to have to start the car!”

 

 Sometimes, we simply don’t remember to start.

 

I’ve gone to workshop after seminar after workshop after seminar over the last seven years.  During that time, I’ve developed the dream of putting on my own events on a consistent basis.
But I didn’t officially START this dream until….

last Sunday.
Why?

 

Was it because there was a chronic shortage of event space in San Diego?

Was it because I didn’t have content I wanted to teach?

Was it because I didn’t know people to invite to the event?

Was it because Pac Man came to me in my dreams and said, “Promise me, you won’t put on events?”

The answer to all of the above is, “NO!”.  There’s always been plenty of event space in San Diego.  I have more than enough content that I want to teach.  I know a great number of people, and for the record Pac-Man didn’t come to me in my dreams.

 

 So what’s with the seven years of procrastination???

 

Like Henry,
I simply didn’t remember to start.
Instead, I made up a thousand excuses for not starting….
But not one of those excuses ACTUALLY took away my power to start.

 

 The excuses don’t matter.

 

Why we created them doesn’t matter.

Why we listened to them doesn’t matter.

Why we’ve spent time waiting instead starting doesn’t matter.

 

 We simply need to remember we have the power to start.

 

Then we have the opportunity to use this great power to START.

Today is new.  Today can be our starting line, if we choose to use it as a starting line.

After my second Awkwardly Awesome Afternoon event, I noticed an attendee had posted the follwoing to Facebook:

“I want to thank Jason for putting on an amazing event this Sunday afternoon! It was nice to be around a common group of people who believe in expressing their authentic self!”

~ Alex from Facebook

If I hadn’t remembered to start, Alex wouldn’t have had that specific experience.

 

To enjoy new things and serve those around us,
we don’t need to be perfect or even close to perfect
but…
We do need to start.
And once we start, you know what?
Things often get easier.

 

You can bet that the drive to Yellowstone for Henry got one heck of a lot easier once he started the car.

 

 Today is new

 

As a child’s first step
Today gives us abundant hours
to start the thing
we want to do.

 

Simply remember
to start.

 

 

 

Jason Freeman had to remember to start in order for his book, Awkwardly Awesome: Embracing My Imperfect Best, to become reality.  And now it’s available on Amazon in Kindle or Paperback!

Click Here to Read It!