Letter 4

Hi folks, today I want to just say some encouraging things. I don’t know who you are or where you’re at in life right now but I hope this kind of letter brightens your week.

It seems like there are two types of chapters that life can go though; consistency and predictability or inconsistency and variability. They both can’t stand alone, one always needs a bit of the other. Some people find peace in the inconsistent and some in the predictable. Whatever type of person you are I hope this letter resonates with you.

When it’s a life of consistency that makes someone feel safe, then a horizon of uncertainty feels like the scariest possible thing to face. And equally opposite, when it’s a life of inconsistency that makes someone feel alive, a horizon of responsibility requiring consistency feels like doom. What I’m saying is this: When we’re facing the unknown, we’re facing fear.

It seems like when life requires us to step into a chapter that we fear, that’s when we grow the most. It seems like growth in life is about developing a better ability to balance in the face of the things we fear.

Whether it’s the responsibility of consistency you fear or the sudden new chapter of being pressed into a place where you couldn’t be more unprepared, I just want to say that you’re going to make it.

Fear is something that always lies ahead of where we are; it’s the byproduct of a game of chess that we subconsciously play in our mind or heart that tries to prepare us right now for what will happen 10 steps into the unknown. Our fear is a writer who labors to control the story of our sense of safety.

So this is what I want to say: You’re still here. You’ve made it through every adversity and every unprepared chapter. You’ve made it through every sudden responsibility to this moment and you’re doing great. You’re resourceful and you don’t need to know the future, you just need to face today with your very best. And I don’t mean your very best like a lackadaisical best, I mean to really push yourself to respond differently or pause a moment longer or ask when you’re afraid to. I mean trying on a part of you that you know you should’ve stepped into long ago and practicing the leading edge of your character now. Most people relax into the back burner of their morals; I want to encourage you to decide to be on the leading edge of yours.

It takes energy, and you might not have much of it. But the reward is the opportunity to lie down at night, looking up at the dark, knowing that you’re a little better than yesterday. And one day, you’ll be equipped enough to step into the opportunity to speak into the heart of someone else, to inspire them into their best. And it’s worth it.

You’re doing great. Face today with all you’ve got because you’re worth it. You’re going to make it.

-M