STUCK IN A “FOGS”

You miss 100 percent of all the shots you never take.

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10

Have you ever been stuck in a “FOGS?” 

No, that’s not a typo.

You may have heard of “FOMO,” a Fear of Missing Out.  It’s a recent phenomenon brought on by an abundance of access to social media.  You can recognize “FOMO” when someone seems driven to stay continually connected with what others are doing, obsessively checking their Facebook, Instagram, texts, and email messages. 

Well, “FOGS” is also a fear.  It’s a Fear of Getting Started—on a big project, a simple task, an exercise routine, housework—just about anything you have to do, want to do, and even like to do.  You just can’t seem to make yourself take that first step toward the goal of accomplishing the specific thing that’s been on your mind.  You procrastinate by doing every other possible thing you can think of or conjure up.  They may be awesome things, even things that need to get done.  But in the end, you’re avoiding that one thing you’ve been thinking about doing for perhaps a very long time.

I realized I have “FOGS.” 

For years I have had a strong desire to write an inspirational blog.  I believe it is God’s desire, as it has not diminished one bit for more than a decade. God kept confirming it through family and friends.  In fact, the feeling has grown even more robust.  A friend of mine once described how she feels when God has placed something particular on her heart but she doesn’t get around to it right away.  She said it’s like putting it in a box and placing that box on a shelf in her closet.  Then, figuratively speaking, whenever she enters the closet, the box falls off the shelf, hitting her in the head.  Her head smarts from the blow, but she picks it up and puts it back on the shelf.  That box continues to fall and hit her every time she enters the space.  And it continues to smart, too!  The only way to keep that box from falling and hitting her head is to take it down off the shelf, open it, remove the contents, look directly at it—and do it.

That’s a pretty good description of how I’ve felt about my inspirational blog and all the ideas God’s given me.  I guess I have a high tolerance for pain because I’ve been letting that box hit me for a long time.  Isn’t it crazy that I’d prefer to get “hit in the head” rather than just do what I believe God wants me to do—and what I want to do as well? 

When I stopped to think about this, I felt a tightness in my chest.  I discovered I was afraid.

What fears could I have that would be that paralyzing? 

At first I told myself I was afraid of succeeding.  I was afraid I might do well, and then what would happen if I couldn’t keep it up?  How would I handle it?  What if I got tired and worn out?  What if I ran out of ideas? What if….  And then I saw that I wasn’t afraid of succeeding.  I was really afraid of falling short, of failing.  No matter how many excuses I thought of or how many ways I looked at it, I was just plain afraid of bombing out.

Finally admitting the truth to myself about failure seemed to set me free! Would failing be so awful?  Failure is not fatal! Then I recalled reading somewhere that the only thing worse than failing was never trying.

So here I am, giving it a shot! 

If I fail, so what?  Heck, I might succeed! Wouldn’t that be a hoot?  But I won’t know unless I try. I once heard a pastor say during a sermon to have the courage to ask God to release your potential. That sounded thrilling and terrifying all at once! But I think what I’m doing now is just that. So Lord, release my potential, and let’s see where this ride goes!