Awesomer

Why aren’t you Awesomer?

The first time I heard that question, I laughed because it completely caught me off guard.

The question came from a story in a book about a psychologist who asked one of his clients point blank, “Why aren’t you awesomer?”

At first glance, it sounds playful.

But the more I sat with it, the more it stung.

I knew there was more in me than I was expressing.

At the time, I was living a much smaller life than the one calling me forward. I was worried about failure, looking foolish, making mistakes, and what other people might think. Like so many people, I was waiting to feel more certain before fully stepping into my life.

Once I saw that, I couldn’t unsee it.

I stopped waiting for certainty and started answering the call.

Over the next several months, I traveled across multiple continents, explored countries I’d never seen before, walked pilgrimages, taught workshops, created videos, met extraordinary people, and stretched myself in ways that would have terrified the version of me that first heard that question.

The interesting part is that I didn’t have all the answers.

I didn’t suddenly become fearless.

I stopped allowing fear to make every decision.

This weekend, I found myself thinking about that question again while watching a baby bird leave its nest.

For nearly an hour, he stood at the edge.

His parents called to him from nearby trees.

He shuffled closer.

Paused.

Looked down.

Paused again.

I couldn’t stop watching.

Then, without any apparent plan, he jumped.

Not gracefully, either.

He didn’t soar into the sunset or spread magnificent wings and fly with confidence.

He basically plummeted into the garden below.

I laughed out loud.

Because it looked strangely familiar.

The little bird was fine. A bit awkward and very much in the middle of learning how to be a bird.

Which, if we’re being honest, describes most of us.

We imagine that courage looks like confidence.

In reality, courage often looks like standing at the edge of something new with shaky legs and a racing heart, then taking the next step anyway.

The bird didn’t learn to fly before leaving the nest. He left the nest and began learning to fly.

As we approach the summer solstice, I find myself reflecting on a question:

What did you do with the extra light you were given this year?

I’m less interested in what you accomplished or achieved and more interested in what you did with the opportunities, invitations, nudges, and callings that life placed in front of you.

Did you move toward them? Or away from them?

Years ago, one uncomfortable question changed the trajectory of my life.

Today, I’m passing that question on to you.

Why aren’t you Awesomer?

I ask because I suspect there is more in you than you’re currently expressing.

And maybe the next chapter of your life doesn’t require having everything figured out.

Perhaps it requires taking one step away from the nest.

 

I THOUGHT I WAS GETTING A PROMOTION. INSTEAD I GOT FIRED. →