When the Path to Success Leads You through {Thin Ice}

In the dark winter night, with the wind blowing at your face and the crushing chill coming down your spine, it happens. No, I am not talking about an unexpected blizzard that freezes you to the core as you walk down a lonely road to find enough bars on your cell phone to call a tow truck.

The crushing chill is when someone comes to you and asks you to do something that you have never done. A committee chair. A budget proposal. Directing a play.

We have all experienced it. Someone comes to us and asks us to take on a new responsibility or role.. They compliment us. They entice us. They shower us with all types of phrases and words of support and encouragement. “We got you,” they assure you. “Anything you need,” they promise. “We trust you,” they say.

Folks, that is the chill. That is the ICE!

Their adulation and accolades may get you excited, may make you believe in yourself, may make you think, “I can do this.” That belief is the foundation. You can build upon it. And once you’ve stepped out into the ice, it’s easier to keep going, step by step. You’re on your way to the promised land!

But don’t get too cocky out there because it’s still slippery.

They don’t mention the difficult committee members. They don’t mention the proposal has to be made within the confines of some ridiculous dollar amount. They don’t tell you directing the play includes casting, wardrobing, and financing. In other words, they don’t tell you, the ice is thin! One misstep and everything may just fall right into the cold water. The progress! The support! The confidence you once had!

But there is one thing they didn’t count on.

You’re not scared of thin ice. Because you’ve got ice in your veins. Difficult committee member? Bring ‘em on! Ridiculous budget demands? HA! A play created from scratch? Pass me the apron!

You live for the challenge! You relish the challenge! You embrace the challenge! And because you move slowly but confidently over that patch of thin ice, cautious but unafraid, you succeed. Why? Because you dared to do what others were afraid to do.