Before I dive into this week’s Soften Saturday, I wanted to thank all of you who joined me last week in my Compliment Challenge. It challenged me to find ways to compliment friends without mentioning their appearance. It also made me much more aware of how many non-appearance compliments I am the recipient of every single day. Good stuff!
And now, on to this week’s Soften Saturday!
Earlier this week, my sweet friend Lisa of Back to Allen shared a link to a post from a blog that is new to me, Life’s a Disco Ball. The blog post Heather wrote, titled 26 Things I’d Do If Fear Didn’t Hold Me, really touched me. Lisa suggested maybe we could both write a blog post on this topic. We are both participants in NaBloPoMo, writing a post each day this month. I pondered this for all of five minutes before realizing I was afraid to even publish my list. First on my list of “If I wasn’t afraid” was “publish a list of what I would do if I wasn’t afraid.” Good grief!
I spent the week thinking about what I would do if I wasn’t afraid. Afraid of judgment, afraid of failure, afraid of so much. I jotted down thoughts on this subject while out running errands, while working in the office, while folding laundry. I thought of a lot of things I would do, a lot of things I would say, a few things I wouldn’t do, more things I wouldn’t say…
The list has been narrowed down to the ten I thought of most often this week.
1. If I wasn’t afraid…I would travel for an entire year.
2. If I wasn’t afraid…I would tell people when I am hurt by their words or actions.
3. If I wasn’t afraid…I would have hugged the grocery store cashier who cried this week telling me her weight loss woes.
4. If I wasn’t afraid…I would give hitchhikers a ride.
5. If I wasn’t afraid…I would invite a stranger to join me at a restaurant when we are both dining alone.
6. If I wasn’t afraid…I would say what I really think without worry of repercussion.
7. If I wasn’t afraid…I would ask why when passed over for opportunities or work.
8. If I wasn’t afraid…I would ask friends and family if they ever read my blog or if I just put words here to further pollute cyberspace.
9. If I wasn’t afraid…I would open a cozy cafe to serve breakfast goodies and juices, one sandwich and one soup each day for lunch, cheese boards, desserts and cocktails in the evenings.
10. If I wasn’t afraid…I would work less.
And now it’s your turn! Tell me what’s on your “If I Wasn’t Afraid” list!
Oh, dear friend. How I love this list….I felt myself nodding as I read each one. You’re such a gem, Johnna, and I’m so thankful that you blog. We’d likely have never met otherwise, and my world (cyberspace AND in-real-life-space) is better with you in it. xoxo
I’m so thankful we met, too, Lisa! I hope you’ll write a list. 🙂
Love your list! And thank you for sharing my blog on yours! I too was afraid to publish a list of what I’m afraid of. But it felt good to do so! 🙂
Thank you for the inspiration, Heather! And it DID feel good to put my list out there. 🙂
I really do read your blog!! I can so relate to the items about saying what we truly think and feel. I’m working on that one myself.
Thanks, Janet! That is a tough one, isn’t it? I would be in so much trouble if I said what I think and feel, so maybe I need to learn to temper it a bit before diving in… 😉
Well here ya go…
1. If I wasn’t afraid… I’d tell my sister n law that she’s an ego maniac… oh yeah I did that and I got in trouble.
2. If I wasn’t afraid… I’d tell my obese sister that she’s lying to herself about trying to lose weight and that I found her Snicker bar cache in the freezer.
3. If I wasn’t afraid… I’d tell my wife that her tuna casserole is sucks.
4. If I wasn’t afraid… I’d tell my wife that I just spent $125 on a pair of Lucky Brand Jeans but the good news is I had a 40% discount code…;-)
5. If I wasn’t afraid… I’d tell my MINI Cooper friends how much I dislike their Countryman and that they couldn’t give me one.
6. If I wasn’t afraid… I’d tell my sister n law she’s a punk for not buying one of her sisters paintings even if she stuck it in a closet and only brought it out when her sister was visiting.
7. If I wasn’t afraid… I’d leave all I have, sell my home, and take off and travel the country/europe with or without my wife and end up living in Greece.
8. If I wasn’t afraid… I’d tell my dad what a horrid person he was to me, my mom and other siblings.
9. If I wasn’t afraid… I’d start surfing again.
10. If I wasn’t afraid… I’d tell myself that I have a spending problem.
Wow.. that was tough.
You did it, Robert! Thanks for sharing your list. And I agree, it is TOUGH but I somehow felt lighter after sharing mine. I absolutely relate to #7 on your list. Also, I hope you’ll get after #9 right away. The ocean calls…
🙂
#9. Surfing days are done though I still have my 2 boards. Started back in 1962 stopped in 1980’s. Loved it but never a good swimmer and now that I’m old… too tuff for me.
Funny how no one else posted a list only commented on yours, if that.