We need to have enough faith to walk into rooms that don’t want us there and enough fuel to keep standing.  For even in those uncomfortable and challenging circumstances we have a purpose.  We never know the lives we touch and sometimes the only thing people need to see is the courage it takes to stand in who we are, an example of hard things getting done.  Simple things that aren’t always easy sometimes need demonstration—or we need the reminder that it’s ok to act outside the norm.  Sometimes we need that reminder ourselves.  We don’t even need to directly speak to these people because the action speaks to them.  Humans are sensitive creatures and we know when something feels off, we know when our presence becomes uncomfortable just as we know we are uncomfortable in certain circumstances.  Even in those times it feels like we don’t belong, we need to trust that we are where we’re supposed to be.  As I wrote yesterday about the fire fueling or burning us, sometimes we face difficulties that are meant to spur action into ourselves and others even if it feels off.  Sometimes that difficult feeling is what makes us move and inspires others to move as well.

It takes a lot to face fears head on.  As we talked about yesterday, facing the fire can be painful.  It is in choosing to face the difficult things that show us we are resilient and, while some things really do hurt, they aren’t meant to hurt forever.  We aren’t meant to stay the same forever and not every calling to change is pleasant.  Faith stays with us during those moments so we can come through unscathed.  We never said anything about being comfortable—it’s highly uncomfortable.  But once we reach the other side, there is nothing that can stop us and suddenly we are an example to everyone that the flames, the rooms we walk into with daggers pointed at us, those are just temporary things, tests/gauntlets of our nerve and desire.  Sure, we need to be wise enough to know when we really should stay away—that doesn’t mean every uncomfortable situation is to be avoided.  We need discomfort to grow, to learn to push through and move forward/upward.  Most importantly, we need to build the confidence to tell the difference—when we simply need to pas through, when we need to stand still, when we need to face the fire, and when we could get burned.

As we get older we start to learn that opinion can be a shaky determinant of circumstances and other people.  Judgement and discernment are the skills we need to worry about, not what people think of something.  There is a time and place to discuss thought and opinion on certain matters but we learn through making choices, some of them tougher than others.  Opinions can be guideposts and show us points of curiosity, but there comes a time when opinion is irrelevant and we need to show up regardless of what people think.  We need to have the hard conversation regardless of what people think, we need to show up and be an example of the change or the conviction we talk about.  Most of the greatest movements in humanity started because someone had the audacity to be where they weren’t wanted.  The gumption to do what was right no matter what others thought or felt.  They showed up and faced the fire in spite of any potential consequences.  Stand firm because that simple act can be all that’s needed for someone else to stand with us and for real change.