Someday I will get there. I don’t know the address where 'Ready' lives and you probably don’t either. The great news is that by the time we reach ‘Ready’ we will likely have accomplished some pretty great things.
I’ve spent a lot of my life championing other people. It’s one of my strengths. Definitely a passion. But I forget myself. I let myself…
fall…
behind…
all the others…
But that’s okay. It’s where I’ve been. But it’s not where I am going.
Where have you been?
Who have you been?
Have you forgotten yourself?
Or maybe the shame tapes won’t let you forget who you were.
I’ve got a nice collection of shame tapes. If you’re old enough, you've played cassette tapes and if not maybe you have at least seen a picture of them on a retro gift bag somewhere.
The great thing about cassette tapes was that they could be recorded on in a stereo with a tape player. Awesome for the 12 year old songwriter I was. Likewise, if I hated what the song or the story on the tape was, I could record over it. And if need be, I could rip the ribbon out and never be afraid my older brother would haunt me with it.
(If you know the prodigal son story, which is one of overcoming shame, holding things over your head is what an older brother does. To the prodigal’s benefit, the father showed up on the road before the older brother could get his hands on his bratty little brother.)
I say that the shame tapes don’t have to keep their hold on us.
Let’s rip the ribbon out and cut it up and smash the tape to Smithereens.
*Geez, that’s an interesting word to type out. Smithereens. Smithereens. Siri even knows it. It must be something we have permission to do if Siri knows about it.
The tapes that tell me I’m not ready to do what I’m called to do and that I’m unqualified and need more growth, perfection, character, following, yada, yada, yada… they are on their way to Smithereens.
They hold us back friend. Come with me and make an intentional choice to stop the shame tapes whispering who you were, who you are not, and why you can’t.
None of us are finished yet. Shame tapes exist to make us believe that our imperfect life is fatal and until we are all ‘Ready’ and ‘Set’, we cannot ‘Go’. But I’m telling you they sing lies into your ears. I am proof. You are proof. There is proof all around you. Everyone doing something worth talking about is doing it without being ready.
Ready implies it will easy to go. That’s a lie too.
So just Go. Start without perfection. It’s overrated anyway.
This post is me starting some things without perfection. I'm even going to leave my sentence un
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