Living the Dream

One of my first semi-major sidenotes came up the other day. I was asked to lead a home community, or small group, with my church this fall. This chance to lead home communities pretty cleanly fits two of my major goals.

1- Become more involved with my church
2- Lead through serving others

I should be super excited, which I am. But at the same time, I can’t help but feel nervous. I mean, I don’t even know what I would talk about! What if people come to my small group but don’t get anything out of it? Or what if people don’t come? That would be sad. It’s kind of the, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it!

There was a quote I really liked from Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, something like:

“Scared means you want to leave, nervous means you want to play.”

I am nervous about this opportunity, and I think being nervous is great because it means you care. A lot of times hopes and dreams seem awesome as hopes and dreams, but I find that when they actually fall into your lap they’re really a lot more of a pain than you expected. Living the dream is a lot harder than it seems. It makes you nervous, second-guess yourself, pile on more work to your schedule, and so on. Thomas Edison had this fitting quote:

“Most people don’t recognize opportunity when it comes, because it’s usually dressed in overalls and looks a lot like work.”

I’ve noticed people idealizing following your dream into the idea of a zero hour work week. I think the zero hour work week is when you’re following your dream it always feels like play, so you really aren’t working at all. I guess I would tend to disagree with that. A lot of times, following your dreams is to love what you’re doing and enjoy every moment, but there are also moments when you have to suck it up and fight through some rough patches. It’s a balance between aligning your actions with your goals while enjoying the moment.

I hope this home community experience helps me get involved with the church, and/or learn to lead. If not, maybe it will be fun, and I’d be happy with that. I guess I’m here for the sidenotes, so we’ll see how it goes.

from ken

Are you trying to change your life? I'd love to hear about it! ken.e.noguchi@gmail.com