Show Up

I'll be the first to admit that I don't have it all together in my business. In fact, I'm certain that I'm really bad at the business side of things and I'm definitely sure that I don't know everything there is to know about photography. Sometimes my to-do list is incredibly daunting and other days I wonder what in the heck I'm going to do. My circumstances are probably different than most people building a photography business. For different reasons God thrust me out a full time job and into this. I've had to learn on the fly. It's been overwhelming and just plain hard at times. Through all of this I've learned one thing...

JUST SHOW UP! 

Every morning I try to have a "just show up" attitude. I might not have a clue how what I'm going to do or how I'm going to do it, but I get up and go sit at my desk anyway. Often it's all I can do to hack through my to-do list, but more often than not I'm showing up to see what new things the day may bring. This has been especially beneficial during the slower times, especially in the begining. When I first started there were so many things I needed to master and I didn't know where to start. It was amazing what I learned by doing this. This principle is true in many other areas as well. It doesn't really matter what you're trying to accomplish or how formidable your task may be. If you just show up and put forth effort, you're going to move forward.

"Today what you'll do what you did yesterday. Tomorrow you'll do what you did today. Eventually you'll get somewhere." - Artist, Chuck Close

Do you have something you'd like to learn or accomplish? Then don't worry about how much is on your schedule, a lot or a little. Show up. Be Teachable. Keep pressing forward. Nothing worth having is going to be attained easily anyway.

Happy Friday everyone!

What matters.

 

Lately I feel like I've been walking a tightrope. On one side of the rope is my desire to succeed at my business and on the other lies desire for God's will. It's a delicate balancing act. And that's a problem. I'm trying to balance those two things and I shouldn't. I want to do what matters in life. I want to make my brief days here on earth to count. The problem lies in the fact that know I am called to this path. He has led me here. At the same time it's easy to go under if I don't work very hard at my craft, especially when so much of the small business owner's income goes to taxes. It's just plain hard to make it. I feel the pressure to succeed every day. I am eager to see all my hard work pay off. Still, I want to this. I want to work hard on making by business better. I love this.

That is what's on one side of the tightrope. On the other I see that succeeding in worldly terms matters very little in the end. God has a much different definition of success. A life spent entirely for Him and for His glory is the only thing that matters. I don't want to come to the end of life, stand before my maker and find that all I have to lay before Him are my beautiful photos and a well run business. I can't risk that. I don't want to miss what He has for me because I am so wrapped up in trying to succeed. What if His success is different from what I had in mind? What if I never make much money? What if I never book 40 weddings in a year? What if...

So what do I do now?

I jump off the tightrope into the unknown. I can't walk that line anymore because I realize that it is merely my fear of failure. I have to let go of my fear and jump into whatever He has for me. Achieving has always been so important to me. I'm a driven person, but I want to be driven towards the right goal. It's scary to hand over everything and to say, "Ok Lord, I'm willing to fail for your sake. I'm willing to see all my hard work amount to nothing if that is Your will. I'm willing to let go of my dreams for this." I leap from fear's uncertain heights and land on Him, the Solid Rock.

I let go of all my other fears by making this one fear greater than everything else - the fear of a wasted life.