Jump!

I am in the middle of writing a book about women and leadership.  In the midst of that, it seems everything I read has something to do with women and leadership or women and fulfillment or women and success. 

One thing I read, and hear, over and over again is that a predictor of a woman’s ability to successfully lead is her ability to take risks. 

I used to take risks.  I’ve grown safe.  Happily ensconced in my little safe place, change suddenly makes me tremble. 

Even as I polled friends, this fear of failing can paralyze them from taking the risk required in order to achieve success. 

Then I read a post from Lisa-Jo Baker this morning.  She quotes from Angie’s Smith’s What Women Fear: 

“If what we are being called to do is in God’s will for us, we truly can’t fail. …What I mean is that we simply may not have the same meaning as God for the word “failure.” To me failure means it doesn’t turn out the way I wanted it to. To God it means I didn’t pick up the brush. Assuming God is calling you to do something, you will fail by being disobedient, not be a lack of success at the task.”

Then Baker says this, “The calling IS the success.” 

Did anyone else need that swift kick in the pants this Monday morning? 

So let’s jump off that cliff, not foolishly, but following where the calling leads.  I am going to rely on God to strip away this ingrained notion of what failure looks like and realize that in following Him I have accomplished success.