Part of the Crowd

Last week I talked about being doers. Getting up off the couch and doing that marathon. Taking that class and getting a degree. You know, big things you see your neighbors doing or in commercials on TV. Well, here is the problem. Where does the motivation come from?? I have some utterly fabulous friends and family who are doing the "From Couch to 5K" training, which promises to turn them from couch potatoes to runners with just a few minutes a few times a week. Sounds easy enough and I am enjoying watching them do this from afar (I will even be their cheerleaders at said 5K) but I lack the one thing I need to jump up and join them. Motivation. I see them doing it, and think, "Good on them!" I just have no desire to be with them. Maybe in March or November or 2014 I will have a desire to run a 5K. But not today. And that is OK. That is not my dream or my passion. I would only be a sheep if I suddenly decided at 2:45 today to sprint to the mailbox. So, I must go in search of my passion, my goal, my hurdle....my thing. 

In the last year I have identified a couple of my things. I became passionate about the education my children were receiving and changing the style and tone of said education. So slowly, our family prayed, discussed, and planned our next step. Homeschool. Terrifying word for some, a joke to others. Here again, baby steps were called for. I love it and believe my children are receiving the education that best suits them. Friends of mine probably think I'm a bit crazy for doing this. I can live with that because my desire to do this rules over any misgivings. And I've had a few. Do I expect anybody else to follow me into this? I sure do not. I often tell people that as with anything, homeschool has its pros and cons but this is what is working for us.

Let's not be sheep. Maybe you saw the guy in the yoga video and thought, "I would love to be able to do that." Go do it. Maybe someone asked you to go on a church mission trip to a foreign country and you thought, "Yes, I have a heart for that!" Go do it. Maybe, someone asked you to go on a mission trip to a foreign country and you thought, "I'd rather be tarred and feathered." Maybe that isn't your thing. It's entirely possible your thing will be different than everybody else's and that's OK too. Your assignment for today is to decide one thing that might be your thing. Not your neighbor's or your spouse's or your zumba teacher's thing, your thing. And notice I didn't say 10 or 20 things, just one. Focus. Decide. Do.