We’ve all done it before. We are standing at the curb with a group of walkers, waiting for the light to change. In our haste to get where we are going, we step out into the street and before we know it a car is approaching. Someone yells, “Hey! Get out of the way!” as if we were taking a suicide walk. As we jump back to the curb, we think in silence and a little shame, “That was a close call. I have to slow down and pay attention.”
Have you ever been in a long line at the grocery store and you turn to flip through a magazine. You know the one. It’s the magazine on the rack next to the aisle. The one that reads, “Man with Two Heads Says He Met Oprah Twice,” or something fascinating and eye-catching like it. Only in the grocery line do we become inquisitive enough to really want to know about this type of trivia. At any rate, while you are updating yourself on this important occurrence you notice out of the corner of your eye a little old lady has slipped her cart right in front of yours. Before you know it, you’ve turned to this very elderly woman who kind of puts you in the mind of your own grandma and say, “Hey!” She turns and smiles at you and says, “Hey sweetie, would you mind handing me that magazine right there. You know granny just can’t reach it today. My arthritis…” You finish your original thought in your head (“Get out of my way!”) but you turn to granny and say, “Yes ma’am, is this the one you wanted?”
How about your morning rush-hour drive to work? Of course I don’t have road rage, but the other drivers do. You are driving along listening to your favorite tune. You sing out loud in your car as if you are in concert. It’s a ritual. It’s a part of your daily process. It makes you feel good and helps kick the day off. You are motivated, psyched, pumped, amped. Nothing could bring you down at this point. You hit the chorus and decide to really let it go. It feels good to do this…until the turkey neck to your right jumps in your lane. He gives you no notice, no warning, no indication. You sit in silence for a moment with your mouth in the open position. You are in shock. Turkey Neck just ruined your morning ritual. Without thinking, you switch lanes and pull beside him. You roll your window down and say to him, “Hey Turkey Neck! Get out of my way!”
There are many instances when something or someone comes between you and what you want. Throughout each day that we encounter there are many instances when we use or hear the phrase “Get out of my way!”
What about the times when you want something different in your life? What do you do when you want to step out and try something new? Maybe it’s a new career, a promotion, meeting someone new…whatever it is, something seems to get in the way of it. Sometimes it’s a voice inside your head saying, “Stay safe, don’t go out there.” Or maybe it is saying, “You’re not ready, wait a little while.” Have you heard that voice? Have you found yourself negotiating with the voice? “But maybe it I did this…” The voice doesn’t care. Perhaps it’s fear—fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of fear. We’ve all heard it said, “There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.” “Nothing beats a failure, but a try.” “You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.”
What could stand in the way of
