Wouldn’t life be a whole lot easier if our daily activities were clearly marked as “practice” or “game time?” Athletes know when they are practicing and when they are playing in the actual game. Real life doesn’t work that way.
We tend to take our everyday moments of practice and constantly hold ourselves to the same standard as game day. We expect to excel at all times and feel disappointed when we aren’t prepared, make “rookie mistakes”, are in a period of recovery, or just fail to meet the mark. Yet we would never expect an athlete to be ready to perform at a high level without practice, and we shouldn’t expect it from ourselves.
The purpose of practice is to make mistakes and build skills.
This week’s intention
In my experience, what keeps people from hearing their callings more than anything else is a fear of practice. We want to pursue things we are already good at. We want to show the world our fully-developed abilities and are only willing to consider the paths we are skilled in.
My intention is to welcome opportunities to follow new callings and practice skills I do not have yet.
This week, place your attention on welcoming an uncomfortable opportunity to learn a new skill. Pray and mediate on your ability to feel spiritually whole enough to risk being seen in your moments of practice. Journal about your willingness to pursue things you are not good at, yet.
Are you being called to new levels of leadership, public speaking, art, counseling, educating, writing, or some other expansion of your skills? Are you willing to practice these skills so you’ll be ready when a big opportunity comes?
Play well and see you next week!