Challenge #2

It is so tempting to think that I can be done with this project simply because I made it through a single challenge - and yet, 51 remain! I am sitting here with my Bible on one side of the computer and coffee on the other, and thinking about the next baby step I am to take towards fearlessness.

For you extroverts, this will seem silly. I suppose most of my challenges would be silly to anyone other than myself. But that's okay - in fact, I guess that's partly the point. I don't want to be afraid to be who God created me to be because only then can I do what God created me to do! My life's purpose is to bring Him glory - and to do that, I need to let go of myself a little (or maybe a lot!). So, this week's challenge is simple, but nonetheless a real challenge to me: I will introduce myself and start a conversation with a stranger.

I used to think that the ability to talk at ease with people was a talent - either you have it or you don't. It's much easier to tell myself that and be nice and comfortable with staying inside my little insulated shell then to speak up and be vulnerable. But I'm realizing conversation is also a skill, one that I can acquire with a little practice; so long as I do just that - practice. Perhaps if I forget about myself for just a few minutes and focus on engaging another person, I will find it is not so difficult after all.

Or maybe I'll become a hermit.