Welcome to my Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote. See today's daily inspirational quotes below.
May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Monday, June 8, 2009

The jump is so frightening - Mary Anne Radmacher

The jump is so frightening between where I am and where I want to be … because of all I may become I will close my eyes and leap. - Mary Anne Radmacher

the jump is so frightening - Mary Anne Radmacher

When I was a little girl I would save my money and go to our corner drug store which had, what I thought, was the world’s largest collection of greeting cards. And they were for sale! Bliss. I loved all the images and would take an hour to select one card. Even at eight years old I thought the inside greetings were just plain silly. I would purchase my card, march home and use my dad’s white-strike-out-correcting sheet to set those insides right (had “white out” not yet been invented?). Then it was ready for a personal note and was sent off to some interested family friend or a relative that required a thank you. I was not sure what “precocious” meant but folks always said it in a kind way when they told my mother that’s what I was.

In my early twenties I dreamt of starting my own greeting card company. I would write on the pages of my journal, ”I want to be an artist.” I longed to create a livelihood that had meaning and use my talents and skills in the service of a compelling and inspiring idea. I was certain that I would have to WAIT until I was (eh-hem) really old. Maybe some time in my forties. I thought perhaps by the time I reached the wise age of 45 I would have gotten all the education needed and managed to save up enough money to fund my own company.

The rumblings wouldn’t leave. I felt unwilling to wait almost twenty years before I could manifest my dream I wrote to a man who used to own the kite shop in the small community in which I lived. He knew a lot about how to make things fly…including one’s dreams. I poured my heart out to him in that letter. I told him I realized I didn’t know the first thing about operating a business and I didn’t have a dime to my name. But I KNEW what I wanted to do. And then I wrote, “The jump is so frightening between where I am and where I want to be…because of all I may become I will close my eyes and leap.”

I brought the letter to a close and posted it. Soon a photocopy of that letter came back to me. The jump phrase was circled in RED…with his note on the side. “THIS sentence, these words, are the reason you are ready to start your business now. You know everything you need to know…and these words should go on one of your first products.”

They did.

I have heard stories over the years how that particular sentence has been the motivation to move people along and give them the courage to put wings to their dreams.

Ha! Just today I could fold those words into a letter whispered just after these words, “I am on the cusp of a remarkable journey. All the longings of my life have led me to this amazing transition in my experience.” Ah, yes. Jump.

8 comments:

  1. Dear Mary Anne,

    thank you. We are so comfortably cowardly that we forget that we could take daring leaps and really live.
    God bless you!

    Liisa from Israel

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much! This is sooooo inspiring,I will close my eyes and leap:-)
    Shriya

    ReplyDelete
  3. The fear, yes, the fear....the stomach churning, blind panic when we are faced with change in our life.....I have taken that blind leap many times in my life....sometimes by my choice, but often brought to the cliff of change against my will or planning.....only to find my feet when I opened my eyes to a world made new and a life reborn...may all your leaps be so...Robin McD

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am 63 years old and my youngest son just graduated high school and will be off to College in the fall so I have copied your Jump quote and will put it in front of me so I will have no more excuses. If not now when?

    ReplyDelete
  5. As I got older it became harder to make the leap. but at 68 I made that leap yesterday and have a new job. Faith in my God and myself has opened a new door in my life.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Though I may have not quite mastered the art of jumping, I still feel as though we are as kindred spirits, you and I. From the moment I learned to read and write, I too have loved greeting cards, esp after a few modest corrections have been made of course. Still no shop of my own or publication though. Thank you for jumping. You are awe inspiring.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I too have "jumped" in my life...sometimes reluctantly, and others, with arms thrust forward and a smile on my face. All have been instrumental in making me who I am. I am in my later years and am now satisfied with taking little leaps, which I am happy with. "Jumps" don't always have to be earth shattering and it is important to realize that once you have landed, to be happy and content with it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am so encouraged to take a leap. I have toyed with an invention ideal that is so needed in today's world, but have yet to take the leap..Really, need to before someone else comes up with my invention.
    Thank you, I will close my eyes and leap!

    ReplyDelete

You can also have Jonathan Lockwood Huie's Daily Inspiration email sent by Follow.it - Choose the email service you prefer...
Get new posts by email: