To Do Or Not To Just Do It

I have a new file I have labeled tdontd (to do or not to do) where I put all the items that are ideas about the future plans I have, companies I want to do business with, products I want to order. Some I have done extensive research about, others are in the beginning stages of thinking about. There are other people's ideas that are fabulous and I want to make or at least include in the repertoire of things for others to make in the classes for the new business my friend and I are developing.

I already had an ideas file, but it got so big I decided I needed a more urgent expression. 

Now that tdontd just keeps piling up and getting fatter and fatter, it is time to make a file called just do it! 

Part of what causes me to stumble and hold back is that, every time I think I have a new idea that will keep competition at bay for a time, I realize there is nothing new under the sun. 

I had emailed my friend, my business partner, a link to a video I stumbled upon recently while checking out the about section of the Etsy website. I had gone there to see if or how many people were selling the fabric baskets I had seen being made on the morning PBS sewing show. I thought they were so clever and a way to use up all my scraps and another project to include in the repertoire for our new "broader concept manufacturing facility". The video came on describing Etsy's work center where they teach people how to make things the Etsy way and then get them up to speed selling on their site. Aside from the fact that I had to say again, "there is nothing new under the sun", I was overly impressed with the fact that it was a very young man who started the site, they have had many stumbles and struggles to get to the profit side of operating, and they nearly failed. The young man who started it stepped aside and let others with more experience take over for a period, but returned later. The note I put in the subject field to my business partner was, "my idea was stolen". 

I don't think she realized I wanted her to watch the video to see that Etsy is already doing what we are planning to do. Almost exactly the way I have imagined to do it. I thought it was an original concept. NoT!...THERE IS NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN.

My friend/business partner wrote back "forget them, do your own mall site. did i show you this one yet? http://www.modcloth.com/" 

Wow, you must check out this girl and guy. High school sweethearts.  

Every day I see fabulous results of people being successful. I wake up and start rowing the boat. I don't look at the tdontd file, I start just doing things to reach the goals I have set before myself and believe that  "There is a part of us that will not let us be content until we become all that we are capable of being"  

My pastor included words very much to this effect in his sermons several times in a row lately and then I had this daily meditation come through in an email today so I think GOD is telling me to "just do it! Come on already, throw away the tdontd file and get up and get on with it!"

Okay, GOD, I think I hear you now.

I had thought I was doing that but realize now, I was letting my fear of success keep me in a smaller box than I really fit. 

“What will happen if I succeed? What will happen if you succeed? If you lose the weight… get the date… earn the promotion… start the business… get pregnant… quit smoking… become a millionaire… stretch yourself?”

April 5

Divine Discontent

Lord, let me always desire more than I think I can do.

— Michelangelo

There is a part of us that will not let us be content until we become all that we are capable of being. Life is not about resting on our laurels and hanging out in our comfort zone; it is an adventure from good to better to best.

Rev. Jack Boland urged, “Do not let good be the enemy of better. ” Your current situation may be good, but if a greater opportunity presents itself, you must be open to expand. This does not mean you are to run away or violate your integrity. If, however, you can step ahead with honesty, honor, and peace, you will enjoy the benefits of living in a larger universe.

Muscles stay strong and flexible only by use and stretching, and so does our mind. Challenge is the universe’s way of showing us that we are bigger than we thought we were.

Bless your dreams, your desires, and your sense that there must be more. There is more because you are more.

Give me the courage to ask for it all.

I leave behind my limits and step forward
to live as large as God.

----------
This meditation is an excerpt from Alan Cohen's meditation book, A Deep Breath of Life. If you liked today's meditation, please support the author and purchase the book by clicking here.

Only by having people focus on keeping/growing the love in their life, they were able to make long-lasting behavioral changes.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 (New International Version, ©2011)

⁹ What has been will be again,
   what has been done will be done again;
   there is nothing new under the sun.