what if.

Thursday, February 21st, 2013

as the plane began its descent into rainy, gray vancouver, i looked through the window at the beautifully clear sky with only the tip of mount baker protruding through the thick wall of cloud.   all i could think was, “if only everyone down there under those clouds knew what was up here.”

i was on my way home from dominican republic and the what if conference.  and i was looking at the world a little differently than i had in a long time.  maybe ever.

my time there didn’t necessarily change the way i think, it just made me more aware of those thoughts and the consequent choices i have been making based on them.  case in point: i have lots of ideas.  dreams even.  but when reality hits, i am often the first person to leave those things on the backburner for seemingly more important “tasks” in the moment.  i have come to assume that dreams will likely remain just that: dreams.  and maybe for the first time, as i had a thought of something i would really like to do, i wrote it down.  that’s something i had stopped doing.  in some way i thought that if i wrote it down and it never happened that i will have failed.  so instead of ever starting anything big, i just let the ideas come and go and waited for doors to open to me.

which is another thing i started to come to grips with: the reality of failure.  i care a lot about what others think of me.  i try not to.  i even say i don’t.  but i do.  and failing is, well, failing and it freaks me out.  it’s not fun, people think…well there i go again, now don’t i.  but what if failing wasn’t that bad after all?  what if failing was just leading me closer to my next success?  what if failing helped me learn in the process more about myself and others and made me a better fit for a success i never thought i would enjoy?

you’re probably sitting there thinking, “well…duh, sharalee”.  and maybe i am super slow and these aren’t really revelations and they are things everyone else already knows.  but maybe they are things we “know” in our heads, but don’t believe in our hearts.  maybe things we’ve been told have led us away or even blinded us from the truth.  maybe very few of us live up to our full potential because of fear of judgement or failure or even fear of success.

so as i looked back on my experience at the what if conference it dawned on me that it was the literal and figurative jet plane that had rocketed me through the cloud only to discover how beautiful it was on the other side.  a literal world of possibility and hope that has always been there…it was just waiting for me to discover it.  and unfortunately, only a select few are dwelling up there in the sun, but there’s so much room up there, friends, come join me!!  it’s not going to be easy; there are going to be days when there’s turbulence or motion sickness or even when you dip below that cloud line back into the gray (i may or may not be there right. now.) and feel like it will be impossible to push back through to the other side.  so go, take a rest on the snowline of the mountain, regain your strength, restock your supplies and make the trek back up.  you’re so much closer than you were when you were starting on the ground (p.s. i’m a pastor’s kid = i like a good metaphor).

and if you need a plane to jet you through those clouds, go sign up for WHAT IF!!!  they’re hosting one this summer in australia (or thereabouts)and another february 2014 in california (which is sold out, but GET ON THE WAIT LIST).  

and don’t even get me started talking about the people.  the people.were.amazing.  people i now call friends, teachers, contacts, motivators, hopeful dreamers, likeminded leaders, inspiring and groundbreaking world changers…i could go on.  they got me thinking outside myself and how i can serve others.  serve you.  thank you, sweet what iffers, for continuing to challenge me to dream.  knowing that they WILL be more than just dreams.

Tags: dominican republic, iPhone photo, vancouver wedding photographer, VSCO Cam, what if conference
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