I was watching the first episode of Voltron with my daughter (don’t judge me) and there was one scene where Pidge was really concerned about taking on her new responsibilities as a Paladin (or pilot) of Voltron. She started spouting off all of the things that could possibly go wrong, all the way down to not being able to reach the pedals.
Her captain, Shiro, just smiled at her and said:
“If you’re too worried about what can go wrong, you might miss the chance to be something great.”
Well alright then, kids cartoon. Way to just hit me in the gut with your truth bombs.
When we start out to do something new, we often come face to face with all of our what ifs & worst cases.
What if I fail?
What if people make fun of me?
What if my family doesn’t understand?
What if I lose all of my money and am forced to live in a van down by the river?
We’re just like Pidge— stuck in the cycle of thinking through all of the big and small things that might go wrong if we embark on the journey, literally thinking “What if I can’t reach the pedals?“.
When we get stuck in the minutiae of our fears, we miss out on opportunity to be our greatest selves.
Pidge can’t go on to be a defender of the universe if she can’t get past the fear cyclone she’s trapped in and you can’t go on to make the impact and difference you’re meant to make on your life and community if you’re stuck being afraid of your next step.
The thing about playing small is it doesn’t allow us to be great.
What if instead of playing out all of your worst case scenarios you allowed yourself to be open to things being better than your wildest dreams?
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