Yes!
That’s Five Minute Friday‘s prompt word for the week. And here I’ve just walked to my computer this morning to discover it, right after promising myself that yes, I would publish this time. If I didn’t like what I wrote on the first try, I’d do a second free write. So here it is, whatever it is:
GO.
Funny this should be today’s word. At the first day of this month, I did some hard thinking, some deciding. I determined that every day in September ought to be a D Day. By that I mean a day living out some D words that I’d considered at the start of the year as possible “One Word”s, but brushed them all off. Words like
determination
decisiveness
diligence
(…. break! … this is bad… I’ve got to stop and go look in my journal!…)
dedicated
devotional
and yes,
do
Why a daily D-Day? Well, since I had to fetch my journal, here’s a big part of the reason, copied from there:
“I see, in retrospect, that a great lot of my wasting of opportunities, of time and talent, has come directly from indecisiveness, and that born of uncertainty. Unsure which path to take, I have sat at too many crossroads instead of taking any of the offered routes. Afraid of erring, I have erred by omission, many omissions.”
I have said “No,” to myself too many times, in almost every case because of uncertainty, over-carefulness, lack of confidence, or downright fear—usually of making a fool of myself. And it’s finally getting through to me (I hope!) how much I can make a real fool of myself by such self-stifling.
I’m not talking about ignoring conscience or trampling all over anybody else’s rights or needs. I’m talking about ignoring being the me that God made me to be, and living it out with joy, with determined, deliberate, diligent dedication and delight, of saying yes to all that He’s put in me, and to the generous love He daily gives me. After all, isn’t that really a devoted, a devotional, way of living?
Yes, I think so.
Yes.
STOP.
Now let me go stand in front of the mirror and practice saying that little three-letter word to myself!
RELATED: This quote long buried among my clippings:
“Use what talent you possess:
the woods would be very silent
if no birds sang except those that sang best.”
-Henry Van Dyke
Also RELATED: This motto I long ago penned for myself—which concisely expresses the desire I’ve ignored or buried too much, and need to live out more in my daily doings:
“I wanna be the me that He made me to be!”
-me
YES!
(And now I take a breath and click “publish,” which is, after all, a definite “yes.”)
Q: Is there something right and good that you could/should be saying “yes” to, something you’ve been turning down too long?
Linked to Five Minute Friday
*Photos, edited, courtesy of Hubs, who thought I could use them for “a parable or something.” I didn’t think so. But yes, these birdies made a perfectly fitting parable to add to this post!
Fear is most often the thing that holds me back from saying yes. I loved reading your D’s. Glad I followed you on our FMF linkup today.
I’m glad, too, that you stopped to read and comment, Debbie—and that I prodded myself to click that “publish” button. It’s good being back here.
You’re not alone in allowing the fears to dictate your actions. I am trying to hold to this acronym I’ve learned recently: False Evidence Appearing Real – FEAR
When we look at those fears closely, we see how stilly they usually are. You beat the first one today – you published! Yay YOU!
I love that acronym, Debby! I need to record it in my journal, or, better yet, put it on a little card to stand in front of my computer. And what you say about the usual silliness of our fears reminds me of “the worry jar.” In a particularly anxious time of my life, someone suggested it, and I tried it out. Every worry you start fretting about, you write on a slip of paper, put it in the jar, and surrender it to God, instead of hanging onto it. Then weeks or months later, you open the jar and read the slips to see how many worries materialized. Although many of mine were even legitimate at the time, not one materialized!
That Henry Van Dyke is beautiful and really freeing! Fear of failure often keeps me from putting myself out there because I never feel “good enough”… Yet that quote speaks so much truth. We don’t have to be the best singing birds – just be brave enough to put yourself out there. God has blessed us each with unique talents and gifts; what a waste if we don’t use them to His glory!
Freeing to me, too, Amy. I’m a bit too much of a perfectionist, and that can hold a person back more that bring out her best. I’ve thought the saying, “Anything worth doing is worth doing well” ought to have a subscript: “Anything worth doing is worth doing, even if you can’t do it well. Just do it, the best that you can!” Seems to me that God hardly ever did use the highly accomplished people to do world-shaking things He called for, but ones who, seeing their own limitations, would tend far more to look to and depend on Him to work through them. I have to remind myself of this, often.
YES, I’m right here with you, and understand every word you have expressed and every Declarative! I need to start saying Yes and Doing wht I say. And the Henry quote is priceless and so true. Thanks for sharing, Sylvia.
Lynn
And thank you for commenting, Lynn! So good to see you here again! I’ve obviously *not* been saying yes to my blogging, and have been “away” too long! Now to be more Definite about Doing it!
You absolutely should. You’re a wonderful author.
As soon as I saw “sylverpen” in my inbox I actually said “Yes!” right out loud before I saw the topic. And, as usual, you hit right on an area I struggle with and put to words something I felt but could not articulate. Miss you, my friend. We never got together after our Peru trip. I just last week printed and pasted our emails to you in my journal and cannot believe it has been nearly a year!
Wow, Laurie, that “coincidence is great! It makes me laugh with pleasure! I’ve missed you, too! Can it be that long? We Definitely have to Do something about that soon!