Leaping Into the Unknown

After a long, hard week of watching our beloved dog Thai make the transition to the spirit realm, my husband Drew and I took off Friday to soak up the love and nurturing of understanding family.

Our first stop, visiting "Da Nuns." Drew's Aunts, two wildly independent nuns who started their own ministry helping children of migrant farm workers, truly walk their talk of living a life of faith. 

They provide a safe haven for children who would otherwise not have a childhood, offering summer camps, day trips, education, and endless low-no fee services to hard working families. Suffice it to say it's an amazing place. You can't be in their presence without feeling loved up, cared for, and reconnected to your own faith in this thing called life.

Another reason we came to visit them was to share our ideas about expanding their impact and income stream by creating a website, blog, and offering online donation options to their charitable donors. You see, we get their twice annual print newsletters and attend their annual picnic. Each time we visit, either by newsletter update or in person, we hear amazing stories of real people trying to make it in this country. It's inspiring, humbling, and calls you to action. By creating a medium to share their work and success stories via a simple website and blog, we knew that others would be called to support their work too.

When we presented our ideas to their financial board for taking their stories online and automating their donation system, there came a moment in the conversation that I feel every wellness or "change your life" practitioner faces.

"What if we get negative feedback? What if people lash out at us? We've been underground for years, and not everyone is going to like what we do here, helping migrant familes. What if the world at large isn't ready for what we're doing? We're not familiar with the technology of the internet, how will ever make this work for us?"

Translation: The fear of being seen.

This is where many wellness practitioners stumble in this phase of business growth. The fear of "what ifs." And sadly, many freeze up, consciously or not, and decide the risks are too high to be truly seen.

Drew, a superb coach, shared this bit of wisdom with the group. "There comes a time in your work, when you must make a decision whether to open up and share your heart and message with the world or not. But here's the catch. You can't just open up a little. You have to open completely and be willing to be seen. In this willingness, you open yourself up to receiving the gifts the universe has to offer you in return for your good works."

In response, it took one phrase to bring the heart of the matter back on the table. My Aunt-in-Law, Sister Pam, followed with this.

"You either live your life in faith or in fear."

There's no middle ground. You may momentarily forget, after all, we are human. But you've gotta choose one or the other.

They quickly reconnected with their faith and purpose of their work and made the decision to follow their faith rather than let their fear lead the way.

So they didn't let the unknown factors of world wide web stop them. They asked questions, clarified any confusing points, and immediately (and wisely) outsourced this project to someone who loved the idea of taking it on.

The question naturally arises….

Are you leading your business in faith or in fear?

It's an edge. It can be scary. You may take some criticism.

Oh, but what a ride it will be.

To your continuous professionale expansion,

Karin

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