I was standing in line at Starbucks the other day, when I struck up a conversation with a nice woman that had recently graduated from a local university with an art degree. After congratulating her, I asked her what she wanted to do now. She told me that she really wanted to move to California. I could feel the positive energy and excitement in her response. Said she had a relative out there that she could stay with. Told me she felt that God was calling her to do it. But that she was afraid.

I woke up this morning thinking about my conversation with the woman. And it reminded me of the story about the guy standing on his roof as the flood waters rise. He’s praying for God to save him. A boat and a helicopter both come to carry the man to safety. He refuses the help and tells them that he’s waiting for God to save him. Long story short. The guy drowns and goes to Heaven, where he confronts God about the reason why God didn’t save him. God tells the man, “I sent you a boat and a helicopter.”

It occurs to me that we’ve got two issues here: Fear and Signs.

I understand the fear reaction. But It’s not something we showed up with when we arrived on this planet. It’s something that has been cultivated in us over time, often by people who wanted to sell us something (home monitoring systems, political ideologies, etc) or by people who wanted us to follow the tribal script and not make any waves.

But what about California? I told my new Starbucks friend that the reason she was afraid to go to California, was the exact reason why she should go to California!

Case in point: A couple of months ago I got my multi-engine rating so that I could fly twin engine aircraft. It involved three days of intense, “drinking through a fire hose” learning, followed by an oral exam and flight exam conducted by an FAA representative. I’ve gone through this process for various licenses and ratings, four times now. And each time I put myself in that environment I feel the pressure and fear. But I do it anyway, because I love to fly and I know that it’s the way we grow. I’ve come to believe that we’re either growing or dying. And I’d rather push through the fear and grow.

Now to the subject of signs. Just like in the boat story above, we all have an inner voice that knows our gifts and talents. It understands our purpose for being on this planet and wants to guide us in the direction of our Best Lives. The question is whether or not we’ll listen to and act on that voice. When we hear it and the Universe conspires to open doors of opportunity for us, we can walk through the door or stand still.

As always, it’s our choice.

Carpe Diem