Deliberate Day 3

I thought I would have to go back and edit/update Deliberate Day 2, but after reading that through once again I think it will stand as it is.

But I will add to it here on Day 3. 

I will add three things I would have liked to have been given a do-over on in my life (after I take a minute and think about it!):

1. I wish I would have continued on with music lessons (I never "finished" with piano or violin lessons).  Recently I attended both a symphony and an orchestra concert out at the local college. While sitting in the audience during both events I was reallllllllllly wishing I knew how to competently play any instrument that would have allowed me to join in the fun!
2. I wish I would have gone to a public school in middle school.  My parents gave me a choice between 7th and 8th grade to switch schools and attend a local public school.  A part of me really wanted to do so but the other part of me was too afraid.  Fear won out.  I was somewhat "popular" at my middle school and I would have to "start over" at a new school.  So I practically begged my parents to allow me to keep attending the little private school.  From there I went on to a Christian high school school and didn't have the best experience.  If I "knew then what I know now" I would have made the transition to a public school, not been so self-conscious or worried so much that I wouldn't fit in and be popular, and I would have studied hard and really involved myself in the various music programs offered. 
3. I would have finished college when I was "college aged".  AND ... I would not have gone to a little tiny Baptist college just to appease my future in-laws.  I was told by my future brother-in-law at the time that I could not take on the family name without a college degree.  Was he joking?  Perhaps to a degree [ha, pardon THAT pun] ... but their feelings about higher education were pretty black and white.  And so my future mother-in-law called her "dear old friend" (a former church member) who happened to direct an all women's ensemble at (what was a the time) a little bible school in Southern California.  Sure enough that friend of hers opened up a slot for me to audition for said ensemble, and - surprise:  I got in (never will be sure if it was of my own doing or if it wouldn't have mattered if I sucked in that audition - I probably would've gotten in because it was pretty much decided for me ahead of time in that conversation between two old friends).  Anyway - I would've gone to a larger school - maybe even a University.  It didn't have to be a private/religious based school but I didn't even consider other options at the time.  Oh how I wish I would have.

So there you have it ... a tiny glimpse into part of my "If I Knew Then" wish list.  And while there are other (likely more significant) "do-over wishes" ... those are a few of the somewhat lighter ones I feel comfortable sharing. 

After thinking about it all the fact is ... there are no do-overs.  There really are only "do betters" now.  We could never base our decisions "back then" on what we know about the "in the future" ... it was simply impossible to know what would be. 

But now we know we have a choice.  We are looking ahead to the future today.  And in the here and now we can resolve to make the best and the right choices with the information we have in the here and now.  Do the next right thing - and then the next ...

But I can say this next thing with absolute certainty:  I have learned to NEVER make a choice based on fear.  I have learned that fear will always keep me from making a clearly thought out decision.  In most of my "...wish I had a do-over" situations (when I think back to what I wish I would've done differently) I realize I often acted out of fear.  I have made many decisions based on fear ... often fear of the unknown.

Charles Stanley (most known for serving as president and founder of In Touch Ministries) once said:  "Fear stifles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation. I have known talented people who procrastinate indefinitely rather than risk failure. Lost opportunities cause erosion of confidence, and the downward spiral begins."

On this, Deliberate Day 3, I want to encourage you to think about what you might undertake to do if fear was left out of your decision making process. 
If there's something you really want to do, don't let any fear hold you back.  Go for it ...

Deliberately.