What's Really Holding You Back? Closing The Gap Between Where You Are And Where You Want To Be

Introduction It's Time for a Breakthrough Just ten minutes into our 240-mile sea adventure, I found myself in the grip of fear. The turbulence and swells of the Atlantic Ocean were more intimidating than I had expected. In fact, I had not anticipated any turbulence. I simply had pictured us having a fun adventure as we navigated our newly purchased thirty-four-foot powerboat from northern New Jersey, where we bought it, to the Washington DC area, where we live. Now my husband had, in fact, warned me the trip would be rough. But as so often happens in life, words failed to communicate the full impact of reality. Sitting anxiously next to Charles in the cockpit, I did my best not to look distraught, but I had to repeatedly bite my tongue to avoid blurting out, "Stop! Let's go back and let a truck haul the boat down I-95. It'll be in DC in no time!" Instead, my thumbs quietly typed cell-phone text messages to my parents and one of my girlfriends every hour or so, updating them on our location. If we perish out here, at least they'll know where to look for us, I thought as the boat rose and fell with the swells of the ocean, giving my stomach the feeling that I was on a continuous roller-coaster ride. I was not having fun, and I wondered if my stomach could take it much longer. I knew that if I could simply endure my uneasiness, we would make it back to DC as planned and have a fabulous adventure to reminisce about. As unsettling as it was for mea woman whose swimming abilities are pretty much limited to the backstroketo bounce around in the eighty-foot depths two miles off the East Coast, two important facts gave me the confidence not to panic. First, we had a navigation plan. We knew exactly where we were going and how to get there and that we'd spend just eighty miles of our trip in the ocean, even though that eighty miles would take more than ten hours in these conditions. Second, my husband had served nearly ten years as a naval officer, at times navigating ships from the coast of California across the Pacific Ocean to various ports in Asia. If I trusted anyone to get us safely from New Jersey to DC, it was Charles. These two facts didn't eliminate my fears, but they gave me the strength to endure them. By the time we arrived home two days later, I was sure the trip had been worth it. Stops in Atlantic City and quaint towns in Delaware and Maryland I'd not previously visited made for a miniature vacation. We arrived home feeling a sense of accomplishment. When we finally docked at our marina, three friends dropped by to see the new boat and get the scoop on our trip. "So, Val, was it worth it?" one of them asked. "Well, it was rough for a while there," I admitted. "I don't think I'd want to do it again, but I'm really glad we took the trip. It was well worth it." The experience helped me appreciate the power of the ocean as well as the relative calmness of the Potomac River. For me, our tripand my choices along the wayoffered an illustration of life. In order to get where we want to be, we must often endure fear, uncertainty, or uneasiness. If we don't panic and flee in the opposite direction at the first sign of turbulence, we'll reach our goaloften with new experiences and insights that will help us conquer greater frontiers in the future. This experience drove home to me the truth that you and I are meant to live fully, passionately, and freely. God has placed within each of us a driving passion along with the skills to accomplish our particular purpose and vision. But as we seek to do so, we will often face the choice of whether to embrace an adventure that could take us further along the path to successBurton, Valorie is the author of 'What's Really Holding You Back? Closing The Gap Between Where You Are And Where You Want To Be', published 2005 under ISBN 9781578568215 and ISBN 1578568218.