Playing it Safe #Day8 #2minutegems

Tonight I felt led to run back one of the initial chapters from "Blindfolded". I pray. this will. encourage you to throw out your safety net. in 2023.

"For as long as I can remember, my family has been a competitive, bowling family. The fresh waxed lanes, the 76’ers sweat towels, the personal crisp, shiny, bowling ball with the bag to match. It’s the Wormack tradition!

It’s the best time of the year. The whole family comes together; we laugh, play, and of course, talk trash. It’s amazing, one would believe. But let me break it to you: that is not the case for me. I am not a competitive person. If I’m great, then, great; if I suck, then I just suck. And I will stay in my lane.

So, because I am not fueled by competition, if I miss a pin or two or ten, then my response is, “Oh well. I’ll just try again next time.”

Not in my family! They will coach you, pray for you, throw shade, catch an attitude, and not allow you to use the restroom, take a sip of water, pass Go, or collect $200 until you knock down all those pins. There are trophies on the line here! (I’m not lying, Y’all!)

So, imagine the pressure I feel when I throw the ball over and over, missing the same pins, even with the pressure of their coaching. I can count on one hand the times I’ve gotten a split and automatically told myself in doubt, “Girl, there’s no way you are going to hit both of those pins that are nowhere near each other. You are not skilled enough for that.” Meanwhile, one of my family coaches is all in my ear, giving me all these strategies that are going right out of the other ear. I had already cancelled out the likelihood of me even hitting the pins in my mind before I even tried.

How many times have you found yourself in the face of layers and layers of pins that you can knock down, but there’s still one pin, one distraction, one obstacle, one denial, staring back at you with invincible, unmoving power? So, you go back and remap your strategy. You create one. Or, you play it safe and assume that things will just kind of work out.

For me, I’m somewhere in between. I really need to have a plan for everything. The minute my plan falls through, I feel like my whole world has fallen apart. I freak out. Or on the other hand, I just try to be cool with going with the flow even though I’m freaking out on the inside. (Those are complete opposites, by the way).

The need to always have a plan is not the problem; your safety net mentality is. It’s a limit that will always be set. It’s the easiest way to convince yourself that, “It’s okay if I fail because I’ll still get caught by the net and won’t lose completely.”

What if your greatest lesson is in your moment of losing everything? The moment where you free up your hands from always holding onto everything and can use your hands to create again?

.......

I don’t know about you, but that safe way of playing is costing me more than any profit I could ever gain.

The safe place is the place where you didn’t know your worth so you allowed someone else to place a price tag on you that was far beneath your value.

Yes, it’s true: you will always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. And yes, you really are one risk away until today. ...Until you realize that the safe place, cannot be your dwelling place."

Consider this:

What areas of your life are you playing it too safe?

What. risk or leap have you talked yourself out of taking because you were led by fear?

In. 2023, how can you prevent yourself from playing it safe?