Leap Blog Day - Welcome Jewels

Happy Leap Blog Day!

     You may for may not know that today is not only Leap Day but also Leap Blog Day.   This is a challenge set forth by a wonderful group of bloggers who are encouraging us to step outside of our comfort zones and guest post for another blogger.  This is a great way to introduce bloggers to a whole new audience that might enjoy their work.  Recently, I came across a blog that I quickly fell in love with.  The writer is so talented and writes about topics that we can all relate to.  I am so excited to introduce you to her here on my blog.   Please welcome my guest writer for today.

Her name is Jewels and her blog is frazzled & frumpy

     I know after reading her post today you will want to visit her often.  Please be generous with your warm-fuzzy comments  and show her the same love you always show me.    

     Thank you,  Jewels, for agreeing to post for me today.  I am thrilled to introduce you to my wonderful readers.  ♥

     So now, for your reading pleasure, here's Jewels.

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Take a Flying Leap of Faith

Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.

I’m not a big fan of the sound.  The roller coaster making its way up the steep incline, metal teeth pulling the car along. Slowly. Ever so slowly.

Clack.  Clack. Clack.

It’s a modern day torture device.  Giving you just enough time to regret the decision to get strapped in.  Every time I board the ride, I go through the same inner conversation.

“It’s okay.  This ride operates hundreds of times a day.  No one ever dies.  It’ll be all right.”

Clack. Clack.

Once we reach the summit, I breathe one more prayer.  We plunge over, and…  I’m fine.  My fears are swallowed up in the thrill of moving faster than the beat of my heart.

Last summer, my husband convinced me to ride the new roller coaster at our local amusement park.  I’d watched the cars as they flashed up one side of the track and back down again.  Oh, no way!  My heart skipped at the thought.  But, with some gentle prodding and a little reverse psychology (how’d he get away with that?), I found myself in line.  We snaked our way to the front and finally sat in the seats.  With a thick, padded arm holding me tight, I took one last breath.  The timer counted us down.  3..2..1  Whoosh! One moment we were on the ground, the next we were 100 feet in the air.  With nary a second to catch any air in my lungs, we were back down again, my insides suddenly displaced somewhere in my ribs.  Over and around, then upside down, I hoped my glasses, which I’d stowed in my bra, wouldn’t fly out.  When we swooshed back into the station, I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. That. Was. Fun.

I’m not an adrenaline junkie.  I do not aspire to jump from airplanes, climb an icefall or drive more than ten miles over the speed limit.  I like calm.  I get enough chaos from my children.

I’ve realized lately, though, that perhaps I need to stop holding myself back.  While I have faith in many things, my belief in myself and my own abilities is lacking.  When I’m challenged and must make that leap that takes me past the dark, into the light, I face it with lukewarm trepidation.  I find myself sticking out a toe, cautiously testing the waters.  When what I need to do is take a few steps and jump, cannonball style, into the pool of opportunity, splashing exuberance on everyone around me.

I’m not alone in this.  As I’ve aged I’ve realized that we all suffer from insecurities.  How could we not?  With our media the size of  a gray whale, we cannot avoid it.  We’re served up a menu of airbrushed, cap-toothed  and plastic surgery-ed, glittery people.  They are what we’re supposed to want to be.  So, we compare what we struggle with  to what others are succeeding in.  No wonder we hesitate.

Deep inside us, we all have the potential for greatness.  We are all shiny and bright.  We are talented and brilliant.  No, we don’t have personal trainers or stylists.  What we have is possibility. And ability.   Write a book, paint a masterpiece, create something. One person can change the world.

  

So, the next time I have a chance, I won’t face it with timidness.  I will embrace the light,  get a running start,  and leap.