A Wake Up Call

This week, I had a colleague say something to me that jolted me back to a time in my life where, one, I was very successful, but, two, I had a lot of important people around me telling me I couldn't and shouldn't do what I was setting out to accomplish.  This, fortunately or not, has happened to me on more than one occasion when I found I had a passion light up to embark on something not everyone would, or could do.

In my youth, in fact at 15, I auditioned for the State Professional Light Opera Company against sneers and words spoken to me that echoed "You can't do that".  Well I did.  I became the youngest member of the Queensland Light Opera Company ever and went on to lead roles, a stack of press, being a celebrity on TV shows and mostly never doubting for a minute that I would do it AND be successful.  Those people in that company became family to me, and surrounded me with protection and love.  Until I could drive, they picked me up and took me home, many times in a week from rehearsals and performances.  I still try to go to reunions with life long friends.  That happened because I was so young, and full of enthusiasm that I never even thought of doubting my ability, until much later.

But, life comes along, and the school of hard knocks, and the doubters words start to get to you.  I fought a lot of opposition when my husband and I began the path of fostering and adoption.  I was shocked how often I would be out with my then fragile babies in quad strollers, and people, total strangers, would point and stare and quite often criticize openly, even though they would never take a child themselves.  That journey has brought me many friends, and many laughs.  I remember a dear friend of mine, when we first met, came to my house and was shocked.  It showed on her face and I asked what was wrong?  She said, "the house is so tidy, I didn't expect that".  We laughed and over time as our friendship grew, she began to see that I was a person who accepted challenge, liked to succeed, and organized my life very well.  I was always an organized and busy person, but the children taught me to do little things often, and not let it roll into a big overwhelming task.

Some years before we left Australia, we had a business, our first, and were given terrible advice, but being novices, did not know any better, and cutting a long story short, ended up holding the bag, a bag full of debt.  At the time, my youngest kids were two and three, and I was a stay at home mum.  Had to be for my husband to work the long hours he had to.  I racked my brain as to what I could do to help the household finances, and to pay the debt.  I can remember everyone literally rolling on the floor laughing when I said I was going to be an Avon representative.  Those days you went door to door selling Avon.  I could do this with the kids and it was a start.  Well no-one was laughing when I became the top seller in my state three months later, a stand-in-manger (with a wage and car) six months later and a Manager with benefits, a car and an expense account within a year.  We paid our debt from those small beginnings.  I learned a lot from that adventure.  If you set your mind you can do anything through Christ who strengthens us.  I was also the lead singer out front of a band while I did that job, and ended up being the first Avon employee to be chosen to sing an original song, record it and perform at National conference, along with another friend, whose name is Trish.

All this to say, I have come out of a fog, a place where I have not been honest with myself or a lot of people I know and have hidden under a fog, or a bushel if you like.  To the extent, because I have always been conscious of "bragging", that on my 60th birthday my children were shocked to find all my press from my youth, and pictures in magazines, reporter critiques, and a whole lot of performance photos.  I never shared, for fear of what?  Instead of being what I thought was humble, I didn't trust my kids to be able to be proud and not intimidated, and I haven't trusted a lot of good friends to enjoy my successes with me, or to share with them how to do many things well, if you want to.

Why has society become the "put down" age?  Why do we feel like people won't like us if we are successful, and why don't we trust our friends to enjoy every journey that we embark on.  I am officially encouraging all of my friends to come out of the fog.  Get up and achieve the things you want to even if it looks impossible.  You only live once, make it a journey full of everything you want to do, do not listen to the whispers, or loud exclamations of doubt, go for it.  It is better to have tried and failed, than to have never tried at all.