I have been quietly contemplating a project for the past two weeks, ever since an idea popped into my head. I have spent many of my waking hours pondering the project: Will this work? How would I xyz? Does it have merit? Why should ‘I’ do this and not someone else? Is this as CRAZY as it seems? Etc., etc., etc.! I am a passionate person and I do often find myself going full steam ahead when I get an idea, but this one has me feeling such a myriad of things that it’s hard to narrow down if A) I’m super excited and really believe I’m the perfect person to do this or B) if it really is a ridiculous notion that should never be spoken of again?!

As often happens when you need a little direction, enlightenment, or encouragement it will present itself and today was no different! This morning I was blessed with two truly remarkable and inspiring notions that seemingly closed the chasm between the cheering and the mocking in my head.

Today’s first inspiration was presented as a post on Facebook; my good friend and all-around AMAZING woman, Candace W., shared the following quote by Albert Einstein:

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

Wow! I can’t imagine that this quote wouldn’t resonate with every individual on earth…we are all unique and worthy and capable of pursuing a path that was quite possibly specifically designed for us! It is so easy to believe the criticisms, including those that are indirect, veiled or invented by us and our fears, and forget that we have characteristics, abilities, experiences, inherent traits, and talents that combine to make us the perfect, and perhaps only, person able to conceive of a particular idea (especially those that seem outrageous) and then make it happen!

A little later in the morning, Oprah emailed me (we’re tight! :) ) within which was included a link to an article by Martha Beck. The title of the article is “Dream Big: Why You Need Wildly Improbable Goals”. Beck speaks of these dreams as WIGs and says that they are flashes that pop into our heads unexpectedly. She says that when we have one of these flashes we must listen - when our inner selves speak to us, it is all too easy to dismiss the idea as too crazy, too impossible, too unlikely, but if we let it resonate we just might discover our life’s path! The other critical component is that we nurture our spirits so that we are healthy enough to pursue what might appear crazy to others (and potentially, especially in the early going, to us too!). Beck writes, “Just as a run-down body may be unable to conceive a healthy new life, a run-down soul can't support the healthy development of the life you were meant to have.”

And so...I had the flash, I’ve battled the urge to dismiss the idea outright, I’ve already taken steps toward achieving my WIG, and I am feeling ALIVE and EXCITED and, shhhh, a little nervous!

Due to the nature of the idea I don’t feel that describing it here and now is wise nor necessary; I do however hope that one day, in the next year or two, I will write another blog post on this subject telling you all about my impossible goal and it's completion! For now, let us go forward with each of us paying particular attention to those random thoughts that come out of nowhere, and which may very likely change our lives, whilst reminding ourselves how incredibly unique, talented, and wonderful we each are! Pursue your dreams and don't let anyone, especially yourself, get in the way!