Go Big

Sing to the LORD, you saints of his;
       praise his holy name.

For his anger lasts only a moment,
       but his favor lasts a lifetime;
       weeping may remain for a night,
       but rejoicing comes in the morning. - Psalm 30: 4-5

Today’s Reading: Psalm 29-30; Acts 23:1-15

Recently, I have had several conversations with friends and family about the times we are living in.

These are tough times.

There is just so much uncertainty. Many people have spent over a year looking for jobs that seem impossible to find. They struggle to understand how they will pay their rent, how they will put food on the table, how they will provide for the needs of their children.

Many folks who do have jobs have seen their hours cut short, wages diminished and careers stagnate. They were raised to believe in a world where a good education and a strong work ethic meant a reasonable measure of success climbing the corporate ladder. Now it seems that this isn’t enough. It seems like who you know and what you can do for them are the only things that matter. It’s a dog eat dog world and there are only so many bones to go around.

The climate may seem bleak, but I see the dawn of a new day. Like many, I have experienced some of these same feelings of fear and insecurity; hopelessness and worry. But it is when the night is at its darkest that the sun is about to rise.

The silver lining around the dark storm clouds of our time is the fact that we have nothing to lose. We can no longer indulge in a false sense of security about tomorrow; hoping to refinance our way to more and more material wealth. We are being forced to find new ways of being. We are encouraged to search within ourselves to come up with the answers to the problems of today.

And this is where things get exciting to me. If we have nothing to lose then why not go big? Why not pursue those dreams we buried deep within our souls when we decided to get the degrees that don’t seem to be paying off? Why not go hard on our passion projects during the idle hours that unemployment has ushered into our lives? Why not jettison the fear of failure when all that we have been holding onto has already been lost?

I see more and more of the people around me making this decision. They are deciding to live life on their terms rather than busting their balls to hustle back onto a corporate ladder that was quick to shake them off.

This is the time to go BIG.

Why? Because there is nothing to lose.

And whenever we start to feel that fear of the unknown and start to worry about the uncertainty before us we can remember what the Psalmist said:

       weeping may remain for a night,
       but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Today is a new day. Get prepared to watch the sun rise.