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A couple of weeks ago I went to DC with my friend, Katie.

We spent most of our time relaxing and enjoying the company of the lovely folks we were staying with.

We also got to go into the city and see the sites. We walked over 5 miles one day as we went from museum, to cemetery, to museum, to statue, to statue, to statue. I loved every minute of it. Well, that might not be true – the last minutes of our walk back to the car were not my favorite.
 

As we were walking around on our second visit and we came around a corner we saw a manhole cover with steam coming out of it.   And Katie gets really excited. Apparently, she had made a secret bucket list for our trip and this was on the list. 
She had made a list of things she really wanted to see while we were there. But, she kept it a secret.
 

 

In my head I’m thinking –how in the world do you ever expect any of these things to happen if you don’t share them with people?? — you’ve got all those secret thoughts, secret dreams and you’re ok with keeping it to yourself.  Then what if they don’t happen?  Is it easier if no one else knows your dreams? Does it make it any less of a heart break if you’re the only one that knows? I’m almost sure that’s not true.
 
But then we’re walking down another sidewalk and there are those grates, you know the ones that bigger cities have. To be honest I have no idea what they’re for. But, Katie kept walking around them. In her mind walking on one of these grates equals certain death. It’s a secret fear she has, or I should say had because I just made it public. 
Keeping that fear secret makes in no less real. Keeping it a secret makes it no less scary. 
Does it make sense to be afraid of that?   Well, no. But it’s real. 

Whether secret or public the dream is real. Whether secret or public the fear is real.

I guess they kind of have something in common. Keeping them a secret means no one will ever know when your dream doesn’t come true and it means that you don’t have to be embarrassed by your illogical fear. But, who is that helping? Sure, it may help you ‘save face.’ But is it helping you to live? Is it helping you to know the fullness of life you were meant to have? I believe the answer is no. 

So, here is my challenge. How much of my secret dreams do I share? Cause if I say it out loud then I’m held accountable. I will have to move from thoughts to action. I’m not sure I’m ready for that today.

And what about my secret fears? Do I want to share those with the world? Not really? But, I also don’t want to always be afraid of things.

So, I’ve slowly started saying what I’m afraid of out loud to people I trust. And it’s moving me to action — actions to overcome those fears. I used to be afraid of those sidewalk grates too. And then I decided I didn’t want to be afraid anymore. So, I walk on them and declare, mostly in my head, that I’m not afraid anymore. And it’s working.

 
Slowly and steadily I’m sharing these secret fears and making plans to overcome. It’s changing me. It’s helping me believe the things the Lord says about me. I’m made for a more than extraordinary life. It’s about time I figured out what ‘life to the full’ really looks like.
 

So watch out Karaoke – here I come.