Walking with Assurance While Appearing to be Foolish:
The threat of looking foolish is one of those messages from that feedback loop I spoke of before. I mentioned the hot stove bringing physical pain, but there is another pain that fear and anxiety also want us to avoid; the pain of potentially looking foolish. Notice I said there potentially looking foolish. I do not believe that every single person we think is thinking of us a certain way actually is. Nor do I think that we should place so much value on the opinions of others that it staggers our personal growth, especially the opinions of those who have a natural bent toward criticism anyway. Of these people, Jim Rohn once said, “They don’t see the sunset through the window, they see the specks on the window”. How true that is! “Well, maybe the window needs to be cleaned” they may say, and that may be true…just not right now. Let’s enjoy the sunset first!
Naturally, we try to avoid situations that we believe will make us look foolish. This stems from a sense of self-preservation; in this case the preservation of our ever-so-fragile ego. James Clear (Author of the book Atomic Habits) said the following – “The first step to being courageous is being willing to look foolish”. We take notice that he did not say we should be foolish, but be willing to look foolish…there is a difference!
The 1,000 Pound Step:
Many people walk with the timid step of insecurity. This is possible to do even if they physically weigh 300 pounds, because that of which I am speaking is not physical but it is mental, emotional, and spiritual. You could weigh 120 pounds, and yet through a sense of internal personal security (which is really the ONLY security that matters anyway) you could have a step of assurance that makes you FEEL like each step you take weighs 1,000 pounds!
Here’s an illustration: With your foot, I want you to raise it up and step on the ground as if you are walking naturally. I know it may seem dumb, but try it. No need to stomp or anything like that. Just raise it up and put it down as you would when you are walking normally. You can do this whether you are currently standing, sitting, or walking. This illustration works best when you are actually walking, but you do not have to be.
Now, take this same exercise and do it one more time, but this time I want you to imagine something as you are doing this. I want you to imagine your step weighing 1,000 pounds, and while you are imagining this, I want you to also imagine the effects of your step…how solid it feels as you lower your foot to the ground and the effects it has on the ground beneath you. Do it in slow motion if you need to; whatever gets the point across. Again, no stomping or anything like that is needed…just a regular and very natural step, but this time it weighs 1,000 pounds. Go ahead…take your step now.
Didn’t it feel a bit different that time? Try it a few more times if you need to. Same foot, same ground, same person lifting it, but a slightly different outcome when you imagined it weighing 1,000 pounds. Now, imagine having that feeling with every step that you take. THAT my friends is the 1,000 pounds step of confidence and assurance. It’s not arrogance and it’s not pride, it’s just a deep sense of value that runs so deep that even the very steps you take seem to just weigh more…almost as if you now have more command over the very force of gravity and thus you feel more stable and more secure in yourself, and that is the point…to feel more stable and more secure in yourself; something many people do not enjoy to this very day!
It isn’t easy to knock over someone who has a 1,000 pound step! It isn’t easy to knock them off-balance when they are walking so surely that their every step seems to act as a magnet to the ground below!
Again, I reiterate that this is not, nor should it ever become, a source of pride and arrogance; it is just a deep sense of value that maybe you have not discovered before and one that can only be given to you as a gift from God! Our hope is that you will take that gift that He has meant for you to have anyway!
We will leave you with the scripture with which we started: Hebrews_6:11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
God bless you,
Pastor Fulmer
Next Level Living 