I sat terrified staring at the McCall’s pattern envelope.
The 1950’s style sketch on the outside showed a spunky blonde-haired teen in a yellow knee-length skirt with a sassy kick pleat. It wasn’t the contents of the envelope that scared me, it was the instructions that came with it.
It was 1980. I sat amongst 20 other preteens in the tucked-away-basement classroom of seventh grade home economics. Our sewing teacher stood straight as an arrow, lean with a tight-lipped smile that made you guess whether she was friend or foe. From the looks of her perfectly pressed outfit she practiced what she preached. Hiding nervously behind our Singer sewing machines on that first day of class she passed a pattern envelope out to each of us.
In no uncertain terms we were given instructions that we would be making the clothing item pictured on our envelope within the semester. When that statement was received with nervous silence she proceeded to drop the BOMB! I couldn’t even thread a needle and within nine weeks we would all “celebrate” together by wearing our clothing articles to school ALL day long. We would then do a runway walk in class and be graded on the fashion worthiness, quality and durability of our outfits. To this day, I’ve never received a more difficult assignment.
Some girls were over the moon with excitement. They spoke of all their past sewing achievements and bragged about the badges on their Girl Scout sashes. I slumped down in my chair looking for the nearest escape hatch. There was none.
In the coming weeks we were given all the tools necessary to accomplish our sewing project. Our teacher worked with us and offered guidance at every turn. Her tight-lipped smile softened and I truly wanted to please her. Yet, I procrastinated. I couldn’t get started on the project because I was fixated on failure. I had nightmares of wearing this yellow kick-pleated skirt to school and having it fall apart, leaving my seventh grade self exposed at lunch hour.
Can we pause and agree that middle school is the playground for “failure-ideation”?
I eventually finished my skirt within the allotted time. And although I had all the tools and guidance available for success, I allowed my fear of failure to be the louder voice and my end result was a hot mess. As predicted in my well played out thoughts, it did end up falling apart at lunch hour and I received a D in sewing that semester. Even the “D” was a symbol of my teacher’s generous spirit.
Looking back at my younger self, I had the choice and opportunity to design and produce something beautiful in the second semester of my seventh grade year. I had everything I needed to succeed. Yet I chose to listen to that troublesome inner voice of failure. The voice that holds us all back from doing the very things that we were created to do.
Everyday we are given the opportunity to sit down and design the life of our dreams. We have the pattern envelope, we have the guidance from others who’ve gone before us. We know how to assemble the right tools. We have the choice to create a personal plan for our growth that will propel us forward in ways we could never dream possible. Yet, we allow fear of failing, doubts, others opinions to shackle us and hold us back.
What would happen if in this season of your life, you linked arms with God and sat down and designed a plan for your life? A life that flows seamlessly together with your faith, family, friends, finances, fitness and fun?
What if you purposefully put pen to paper, wrote out your dream life and created action steps around it?
What if you then gathered a circle of support around you, developed new skills to achieve success, and worked on becoming the person this new dream would require you to be?
I can only imagine the amazing outfit you would be wearing as you walk into the life you designed. It’s time to cut through the fabric of fear that kills our dreams and start living out the beautiful life that God has created us to live.
Here’s three action items I find incredibly helpful when creating a plan to achieve something new in my life:
Whatever it is you wrote down on paper, whether it’s to lose 100 pounds, going back to school or finally making that move to a new state – you must commit with no turning back. Believe in your future self and be the woman that she needs you to be today so you can achieve your tomorrow. I believe in you, COMMIT!
Oftentimes we are really excited about the commitment we’ve made and we’re envisioning our future selves benefiting from our actions, but we make this fatal mistake. We don’t build new habits and systems around our plan. In order for a dream to take hold it needs to be supported by actions that are repeatable, day after day after day. These steps are the foundation of your new dream.
If you were going to commit to building a healthy lifestyle starting with the food you eat, the most important question becomes, “Can I repeat this on autopilot?” The meals can’t be so complicated that on your busiest day you choose the quick and easy route instead of preparing the complex meal. John Maxwell says, “Life is simple, keeping it that way is complicated.” Find paths that are repeatable and simple!
In keeping with the healthy lifestyle example, our new way of eating needs to come with us wherever we go. We need to transfer into all our different life scenarios. If I’m traveling does this plan help me stay on target? If I’m at a friend’s wedding does this plan have me falling off the rails? Whatever I’m doing and wherever I’m going I need to make sure a clear path exists for my habits and action steps to come right alongside me.
Commit. Repeat. Transfer. All three are necessary components of creating a plan that you will stick with and achieve success for a lifetime.
Are you ready to live your life by design?
