How many times have we promised ourselves something and then never done anything about it?  How many times have we waited until the crowd was moving before we joined it?  How many times have we told ourselves we were ready and then back pedaled, hoping no one noticed?

It’s over.

This is the end.

Ever played the game of chess?  It used to be one of the games I played when I was younger.  I never studied it or played it for competition sake, but I enjoyed the challenge of it.  It was certainly required more thinking than checkers and it caused me to see the whole board.  Perhaps one of the skills I learned from playing was to also plan out the scenarios that might unfold depending on which move was not only taken by my opponent, by also by myself.  And as much planning as I did to keep my King out of Checkmate, there were just some things I didn’t even see.

Sound like someone you know?

But the game even starts someone has to go first.  And no matter which piece you move first, you have to pick one.  You are a little uneasy and unsure.  So you hesitate.  You might even choose to move what everyone else moves first — the Pawn. The one that hurts the least if taken.  I mean, you will be left with seven pawns if that first one is taken by your opponent.  But that is the safe move.  We have all done.

Even in our lives.  We surround ourselves with like people and wait for the group to move, knowing full well what our responsibilities are and are quick to throw  up our hands to deflect anything more than what we were made to be.

Imagine those chess pieces being actual people…where there is some pecking order but still the decision to make that first move falls within the scope of a choice granted to each piece.

Now what?

So as the world stares at you just you try to fit in and observe the workings of the world, you find yourself motionless.  You aren’t forbidden from moving and you are still able, but you don’t. You don’t even move your head, but your eyes shift from side to side, hoping to get a glimpse of movement by someone else.  You are unsure if you should follow suite with everyone else, but that just feels like you are going through the motions.  And instead of feeling like you belong, you feel more distant and removed from the crowd.

Maybe you wonder what you missed…why you have these thoughts of exclusion and uncomfortableness.  Eventually, you come to the conclusion that you cannot stay this way forever.  Something has to be done.  But what?

As uncomfortable as that first step will be, you accept that remaining silent and stagnant will do more harm. And with eyes glaring at you, you choose to be the one that leaves the group.  The one that finds freedom in that first step and in it, it releases everything you thought you had to be so that you could be everything you were meant to be. 

And even though you stand alone, you stand proud.  You stand firm.  You stand courageous.  You stand for you.

And as you take a glance over your shoulder, you see that where you once were no longer exists.  It has disappeared and is lost forever.  Although you did not know it at the time, it was the end of who you once were.  And you can no longer return.

Stop yielding to others!

Too much talk about the things people want to be different, but never take the initiative to make them happen.  They permit others to go ahead of them or hesitate completely.  Reasons and excuses become so prevalent that we have heard them all before.  With the never ending struggle with “doing what’s right” and “doing what’s right for you,” we forget that we still have choices to make.  We forget that we are not powerless, but powerful.  We dismiss opportunities and chances that we hope come again, but instead we lower our heads with a slight sense of regret. Life is short and it will pass you by if it doesn’t run you over.

So how do you know which step is the one you should take?  Search your heart for something you loved and no longer do.  Find your JOY and change your life to  revolve around it.  It doesn’t have to be the centerpiece, but must be a focal point.  It is found in the inner chambers that summons you in the privacy of your more sacred places.  It beckons with a voice only you can hear.  It begs for your attention and does not wish to hinder, but to enhance and compliment your talents and gifts.

This is how you move.

THIS is YOUR step.

 The one only you can take.  And no matter where you are, what you have done, or who you are with, you will realize that the first step was one that led you to your destiny.

Michelle A. Homme 2015 ©