Photo by Andrew Roberts on Unsplash
On Sunday, February 14th, Valentine’s Day, those who were not out to dinner with their loved ones were likely watching the “Great American Race,” the Daytona 500. With any race, whenever there is a crash on the track, the yellow flag comes out, signaling to all the drivers that they must maintain their positions. They slow down, and they can’t pass other cars. This allows the cleanup crews to more safely attend to the drivers involved in the accident, remove the damaged cars and clean up the track before the green flag comes out and actual racing can resume.
Recently I was speaking with a client about where we are as a nation. The pandemic, school closings, quarantines, business lockdowns and restrictions, racial tensions, and political divisions have caused many of us to postpone our strategies and plans. We hit the “pause button.” Initially, we were eager to “get back to normal.” But after a while, something happened. We got comfortable. Now, instead of eagerly pushing forward, we find ourselves hesitant, maybe even stalling.
Why is that? I think there are two nefarious forces at work here: FEAR and COMPLACENCY. We’ve gotten used to avoiding risk. We have perhaps gotten comfortable putting our dreams and visions on hold for a while longer in the process.
It’s like running a race under the yellow caution flag. We’re still going around the track. We’re still living life. We are in motion, but we’re not racing.
Are there places in your life where perhaps the fear of failure, the fear of change, of the unknown have caused you to hold back from pursuing your passions? Have you possibly gotten comfortable enough with this “new normal” to where complacency has set in, and you’re no longer racing? You’re just keeping busy, moving in circles?
Let me both challenge and encourage you to consider, the green flag is out. It’s time to resume racing. It’s time to press forward, dream, take the risk, and passionately pursue the calling and direction of your life. Yes, current circumstances may have caused you to run under a caution flag for a bit or even make a pit stop or two. That’s OK.
But let me encourage you to hit the accelerator and resume racing. Life, like racing, can be scary. Things come at you fast. But you were made for this. You were built to handle the risk and experience the thrill. So let’s go. Kick fear and complacency to the curb and hit the gas. There’s a race to be won and a victory lap in your future!
