Win, lose or draw, I'm leaving it all on the field

I've determined, and I've said this before, that the voices in our heads have to be heard.  On my first Friday at home, I attended a friend's church where the Pastor preached on exactly that.  His title was something of the order of "Listening and responding to the Prophetic Word".  Whether you're a believer or not, I think we have to accept that ideas - whether crazy or brilliant - come to us in a flash and that it is in the response to the flash that we sometimes lose our way. What happens next depends on a number of things, not the least of which is our belief in ourselves and the level of support we feel coming from those around us.

For more than 20 years, I've had this one recurring idea.  It hasn't been my only idea, but it is the one that drives and needles me most. I finally had opportunity to give it voice 12 years ago.  The reason for the lag was that I had had the idea when I was about 20, but was too low on the family totem pole to be allowed a voice (a story for another blog entry altogether).  At 33,  I was able to have it received and acted upon.  It is entirely possible that the fact that I'd been to university and was a successful professional by that time, made my voice *clearer*.  Whatever it was, there was a confluence of unhappy events that made it possible for me to be heard. It's been more than a decade since then, and my subsequent series of ideas have not be welcomed with nearly the same fervor as there has been no confluence of events, sad or happy, to support my insights.

Having finally grown weary of waiting to be heard, Waiting for Godot as it were, I've decided to do my thing without family blessing (again, a blog post for another day!).  When we believe in ourselves and our ideas, we do what we must to make the visions in our heads reality.  We talk to whomever we must, we needle, we cajole, sometimes we shout and then finally, someone hears and we are able to do.  This I have done.

I heard a joke/story recently of an older wise man asking a youngster if he wanted to succeed as much as he wanted to breathe.  [Given that the youngster had just had his head dunked and held underwater, he understood the level of commitment that would be required if success was to be his.]  That's me with this recurring idea: I want it as much as I want to breathe.  I recommend that kind of commitment highly though I'll be the first to tell you it ain't easy, I'll never say that it is, but it is worth it.  My current exhaustion attests to that fact.  I'm just back from the field of play and I'm worn out.  My exhaustion is honestly earned though because I've given it everything I had in me.  I've left it ALL on the field.  Win, lose or draw, I went out and played hard.  I'm bound to get some points for that.  As a matter of fact, I think I already have.