I find myself sitting here at 9:20 pm on Sunday night with the boys in the St. Louis/Lambert Airport with hopes of still making a flight home tonight. You may be wondering how or why we are in St. Louis if we live in Dallas – it’s not a school holiday, it’s not summer break… nope, we acted on an idea… a prompting to join friends for a BBQ and a weekend of fun.
What is a prompting? A prompting is that ‘little voice’ you hear in your mind that says… “maybe I should” or “what if…” For us it was about taking a chance on the ‘what if’ this weekend. Have you heard this voice? Have you listened to it? Ignored it? Questions like: “What if I ask her for a date?” What if I ask for a promotion? What if we moved? Have a baby? Start my own business? If you have heard the ‘what if’ whisper, did you follow it? If not, why? What do you have to lose? What is the risk?
What if that one girl says ‘no,’ and then you stop asking girls out – you might miss your soul mate. If you don’t try to have a baby or adopt, you might regret it years from now. What if you wait to start your business and in a year see where you could have been if you had just followed that little voice… that little prompting. The only difference between Tim & I with Jordan, Jules, Adam, DeMarr and others is time. The only difference between you & I is time… but you’ll never be where we are if you don’t start. Don’t stand back looking inward. Take an inventory, chat with your support network and take that chance – no matter what your passion or business.Returning to our action on the prompting of going to St. Louis this weekend and the fact that we are still in the airport (going on 6 hours) with the boys by myself, I have no regrets. Why? I have no regrets because we had a great weekend BBQ with friends and the weekend ended up being more memorable than I could have imagined. It started with a Facebook status entry about brisket smoking and my response/tease about crashing their BBQ. It was followed by my BFF asking ‘what if you jumped on a plane and joined us…’ Hmmm – what if? What if we did leave immediately and fly up Saturday, only to return on Sunday? What did I have to lose? And that’s the question and fear I want you to overcome when you face your what ‘ifs.’
I don’t want it to seem like we chose to start our Send Out Cards with little decision, there was a decision. We loved the concept, the philosophy and mission. Of course, after nine years in direct sales, I didn’t see a reason to start another business. Boy, am I glad I listened to my ‘what if’ voice. I was already going to purchase the Wholesale Package based on the number of cards our family sends and I wanted to save in the long-run despite the upfront (system cost). I thought for $59 to become a business, ok… ‘what if’ I did make a little money from sending my own cards and gifts – not to mention the cards and gifts others would send…. Obviously, if you’ve followed us here on the blog or Facebook or we’ve had a chance to chat via email and phone calls, you know our history.
Just as listening to that ‘what if’ voice to start a business with Send Out Cards, brought about great lessons and opportunities for memory making, so did the ‘what if’ voice about going to St. Louis. Our trip to St. Louis brought memories with the kids about Acts of Random Kindness, kickball, playing with dear friends and a lesson about a little baby lost to SIDS as we released balloons to Heaven one year after the Lord took her from her family. Our boys learned about Ellie and even though she is gone, she is not forgotten. This memory and the pink & purple sunsets and double rainbow Ellie sends her family on Earth are so worth the ‘what if’ about going to St. Louis and the ‘what if’ we don’t get home because of the storms. Don’t let the fear stop you from a memory, a milestone, a moment of success – take the risk. You don’t want to wonder ‘what if’ and have regrets. I promise the risk be worth the rewards. I’m always cheering you on as an entrepreneur – no matter what your business may be. --Danielle
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