Standing On The Edge of What’s Next
It’s a new year already and seemingly last year has flown by. What do you do with your January? Most people use January to reflect on the previous year, to set goals, and to make promises to themselves to do things they failed to do in the previous year. That’s a good thing to do, it's admirable and deserves a measure of applause. But use January to ask yourself one important question.
January is a very good time to ask yourself what comes next in your life. Perhaps you don’t know where the trials, twists, and turns are taking you. Perhaps you’re in a valley and can’t seem to claw your way out. It’s a tough place to be I know. I am living proof that when life is turned upside down and you’re questioning your worth, confused about your future, or feeling insignificant, invisible, and unworthy, what’s happening is that you are standing on the edge of what’s next. We can look at it as you are always standing on the edge of what’s next. It’s all about perspective.
What’s next is that good thing, that hoped-for thing, that thing that will catapult you to the next level of yourself. That thing you’ve warred for in prayer. You are standing on the edge of that thing that when you get it, all the tears and prayers and hoping and dreaming was worth it! Your ‘what’s next’ is coming! Prepare, plan, and practice. Be ready.
Recently, I had a PowerPoint presentation to give. It was to be a 45-minute exposition to a room full of academics on workplace resilience. It was certainly me challenging myself to go to the next level of who, in my mind, I was to become, because this was voluntary, and I hadn’t spoken publicly in more than 30 years. Now, know that if you tackle something like this, the enemy will come after you. He came after me, but I knew that if I succumbed to his attack, the next time I attempted something of this magnitude, I would be afraid, and fear would overpower me and the moment. So, I looked him square in the eyes and took the stage anyway. The only reason I could be so bold despite his attack, was because I had prepared to be excellent.
I had practiced, planned, and prepared to be excellent. There was a time I wasn’t ready; floundering about in uncertainty and more uncertainty, catastrophizing every chance I was alone with myself. The mind isn’t just a terrible thing to waste, but it's also a playground for the enemy to do his best work on us. Those were the times I hadn’t prepared for what was next because I wasn’t expecting what was to come to be a self-defining moment. There are so many things during our days that are nuggets for self-preparation, we just need to recognize them as such. I challenge you to use the start of the next month to practice preparing yourself for when you are standing on the edge of what’s next; that opportunity that sets the stage for your purpose-driven life.
