You feel the call, the pull, the tug, the strain to expand – the yearning on the inside to become. Not to build an empire, or conquer a continent. Simply to be a better man or woman. To love better and stronger. To speak with greater clarity and turn up consistently aligned fully with your words and your faith.

But it’s hard!

I sit here with tears down my cheeks, aware of the push back by the status quo reigning in my soul, grappling to keep its comfort zone intact. Like a boundary line wire that squeals when an intruder dares to pass, I have erected unseen pillars and fences that clearly declare, “this far but no further, pass this point or dare to die.”

My desire for more contravenes the unspoken covenants I have made with my own insecurities.

Expansion is hard.

Cracking the ceiling to finally see the blue sky takes vigorous effort.

The thinking that brought you thus far is inadequate to lift you to the next level!

The mould I have made that encases my experience is cramped, but comfort claws to keep me covered. I feel the fear of responsibility with its shoulder against the door, daring me to pass and counselling me of the dangers of being a bigger person.

You’ll have to show up differently. Take off the painted face. You’ll be exposed for the fraud and the fake that you are. Your fears will be realised and your failing efforts will throw you under the bus. You’ll be the poster boy for the man who ‘tried’ and failed.

Voices, voices, voices. The voice of childhood falls. Teenage failing. Adult meltdowns. All clamour at the doorstep of my breakthrough, scrumming for my incarceration to continue. The quarantine of mediocrity, shut behind doors of my own making, never reaching for the next level of income, influence, freedom, and fire.

Defending Yourself Against Your Defences

No wonder this game is tough. I’m my number one opponent, pushing against the very defences I cultivated to protect myself, some of them from childhood. A hearty line of lies arrayed against my own will and desire.

What do we do in this situation, when the walls we’ve been pushing push back and contract?

What’s the key that cracks the lock and opens the door to a greater future?

“Son, the days you sat in the shadows of fear are over. The light of a new day breaks when you break with the lies that have held you bound. You are no longer the child who was felled all those years ago, who heard the words of teachers mocking, or flailed in your efforts to rise. You’re no longer the slave, bound to the past and chained to what you could do in your own limited strength.

I am with you every step of this rocky way, to carry you if necessary when the going gets rough. Turning up consistently doesn’t mean perfectly, with your insta-filter life on display. Sometimes, son, it’s the dusty leg of the journey that inspires others most.

Bringing fears to the light and heat of the day for all to see shrivels them in the glare of how pitiful those lies really are.

Fear not and step forward, do the work and wring out the sweat of your soul on the sidewalk. Transitioning from knowing to being is indeed hard to accomplish. We want to stay in the shade of what we know, but there’s the fruit of a tree I want you to eat today that transforms. Its fruit tastes bitter at times, to a soul accustomed to hiding, but oh so sweet the results of truth in the inner parts.

Let me lead you with My Voice. Each day, one step at a time. Don’t be afraid to share the journey, for my calling goes beyond this short stay. Let’s become together, not by your efforts and straining, although sometimes you will feel the wrestling to remain alone in that which you call safety. But, my beloved, security is not found in safety, it is only found in Me.

My voice, every day leading. The house of hearing, built on solid rock. Ever-expanding, ever exploring, ever-growing, discovering, seeing more.”

Ready? Just one more step, son, daughter. Just one more step.